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Panel Members

PANEL OVERVIEW: ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Panel members are engineering professionals, faculty, and/or staff. They meet 2 times per semester with students at an all-program gathering to provide advice, review goals, answer questions, and help them refine their strategies to achieve their goals.  The first panel session will occur at the beginning of the semester, and will be an opportunity to review students’ Personal Development Plans, which outlines their skills-development goals and leadership strategies. Here are some suggestions:

  • Make sure the activities students select are directly relevant to the skills they wish to build.
  • Provide suggestions or recommend changes if necessary.
  • Attend the panel again to assess progress and grade reflections at the end of the semester.

All interested engineering professionals are welcome to participate. Email Ruth Rothstein, the LDP Coordinator at rrothste@purdue.edu to reserve a spot on the panel.

PANEL EXPECTATIONS

Panel members will attend 1-2 events per semester to guide students’ experience through the LDP.  Panel members will mentor students primarily by A) sharing insights about skills development relevant to mechanical engineering careers, and B) reviewing and grading students’ program materials on a pass/ fail basis.

Start-of-semester gathering

Panel members will review a number of student Personal Development Plans. Which skills has the student selected? How do they intend to build those skills? What advice can you share to aide in their skills development process? Which activities can you recommend that the student may have overlooked?

End-of-semester gathering

Panel members will meet with LDP participants to review progress. How closely has the student followed their Personal Development Plan? Are they on track to earn at least 7 points and complete the program within the 2-semester requirement? If not, what can you recommend to help them do so? How might you recommend they leverage their activity participation to further advance their career goals?

END-OF-SEMESTER GRADING 

Panel members will also review and grade activity reflections at the end-of-semester gathering. Here are  some suggestions to consider when grading reflections:

  • Is the student making clear connections between the skills they’re building and the activities they’ve selected?
  • Have they articulated clearly what they are gaining from participation in their various activities?

After receiving a passing grade from a panel member, students can earn the point(s) associated with each activity. If necessary, provide feedback for how a student might better articulate their leadership development process, and ask them to revise their reflection in order to receive a passing mark.

Some students may have earned 7 points and be ready to finish the program at this gathering. If that’s the case, review and grade ther program reflection. At this point, they will have written a one-page reflection describing their gains from the program. Not only does this help the student to understand improvements to their professional skill sets, it allows them to practice articulating their achievements.

With a passing mark on their program reflection given by a panel member (or the coordinator, Ruth Rothstein), students will submit their completion form, take an exit survey, and be given a Leadership Award!

SAMPLE QUESTIONS FOR STUDENTS

Start-of-semester panel 

  1. What would you like to do with your mechanical engineering degree?
  2. Tell me about your current skill set — how have you developed these skills?
  3. Tell me about your PDP — why have you selected these skills and activities?
  4. Where do you foresee needing the skills you’d like to develop in your future career?
  5. Why do you think the activities you’ve selected in your PDP will help you build your desired skill set?
  6. What difficulties do you foresee happening in the next few months that might affect your PDP?
  7. What questions do you have about being successful as a mechanical engineer?

End-of-semester panel

  1. What would you like to do with your mechanical engineering degree?
  2. Tell me about the progress you’ve made on your PDP
    1. What skills are you working on? What activities have you been involved in?
  3. What are some challenges you’re facing? How might they be overcome?
  4. What are some of your biggest takeaways or insights you’ve gathered?
  5. What questions do you have about preparing for your career in mechanical engineering?