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In 2002, ITE District 6 created the Student Initiatives Program to encourage more student participation in the transportation profession. The Program strives to fulfill its goal of attracting, retaining, and developing the most talented students into transportation professionals by undertaking specific and proven initiatives to increase:
- Active student chapters through the provision of library materials and technical software for new student chapters, as well as, opportunities to receive grants to support student activities
- Student participation in Annual Meetings through subsidization of student registration fees and the incorporation of events and seminars specifically geared for students
- Student interaction with Professionals through mentoring programs and encouragement of student attendance at Annual Meetings, one of the largest gatherings of transportation professionals in the West every year
The Student Endowment Fund will ensure a continuous and stable source of funding for these, as well as, other initiatives. Once our goal of $500,000 is reached, the Fund will be able to generate enough revenue through accrued interest to support the annual operating budget of the Student Initiatives Program.
Active Student Chapters
Perhaps the most important ingredient to successfully attracting talented students to transportation is an active, on-campus ITE Student Chapter. There are currently 32 Student Chapters spread throughout the District's 13 states. The Student Initiatives Program and Student Endowment Fund support on-campus Student Chapters in a variety of ways.
The District awards Data Collection Fund Projects annually to Student Chapters to create interest in transportation through practical activities and mentoring while generating relevant technical data for the profession. These projects also allow Student
Chapters an opportunity to raise funds to help offset the cost of Student Chapter activities (such as attendance at District 6 Annual Meetings). Student Chapters can also raise funds by submitting Annual Reports of their yearly activities for which they receive awards from the District.
In addition to supporting existing Student Chapters, the District encourages and assists in the establishment of new Student Chapters. To ensure that students have access to current references, this support can take the form of library materials and technical software for Student Chapters.
Student Participation in Annual Meetings
In addition to providing opportunities for students raise funds to offset the cost to attend Annual Meetings, the District also subsidizes Annual Meeting registration fees for students and their Faculty Advisors to encourage their attendance at the meetings. Student attendance at Annual Meetings has increased significantly from five to over eighty students in the past six years.
In addition to helping to offset the cost to attend the Annual Meeting, the District has incorporated events and seminars into the Annual Meeting that are specifically geared for students. The James H. Kell Student Competition that is held each year at the start of the Annual Meeting allows students to work in small groups with students from other schools to solve transportation problems. Their solutions are judged by a panel of professionals and the top groups are awarded cash prizes. The format of the competition is determined each year based upon proposals prepared by Student Chapters who compete for the right to run the competition. The Student Chapter with the winning proposal receives travel money to attend the Annual Meeting.
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