It’s not “all work and no play” at the Fulton Schools! In addition to your academic activities, we hope you’ll also take some time to have fun. We make sure our freshmen get a spirited start to their Fulton Schools journey with E2, but the fun doesn’t stop there. And if you hadn’t noticed already, on Mondays, we wear maroon.
Faculty and staff are an integral part of making many of these traditions, spirit events and programs possible for our students. Take note of a few traditions you shouldn’t miss out on and the amazing people who put it all together!
Kristín Ólafs, Special Events Manager, is a key figure in coordinating special events for the Dean’s office, including big traditions like the Homecoming Block Party, Convocation and many more throughout the year. She makes sure all the pieces fall into place from scheduling to catering with the support of her team. Since joining the Engineering Dean’s office in 2005, Kristín has planned and executed hundreds of events. These include conferences, the Grand Challenge Summit, the Intel Entrepreneurial Competition and donor cultivation events. Kristin is also a co-founder of MECA (Meeting and Events Coordinators and Associates), a group of events planners who learn about best practices for events at ASU. Kristín frequently does event-planning workshops for ASU staff and students. She can be reached at kristin.olafsdottir@asu.edu.
Elizabeth Cross, Events Coordinator, is responsible for various events and conferences for the Engineering Dean’s Office, including the dean’s football suite, tailgates, engineering final’s breakfast, volunteer appreciation event and various faculty meetings and assemblies. She collaborates with Kristín Ólafs and other dean’s office staff to coordinate larger events including Homecoming, Convocation, IMPACT and Service Awards and ASU Open Door. She is also the volunteer manager for all Dean’s Office events, managing the recruiting, scheduling, training and supervising of volunteers and providing guidance to FSE staff regarding volunteer management practices. Elizabeth started working at the Fulton Schools as a student worker for Engineering Technical Services in 2010, before joining the Dean’s Office events team as special events assistant in 2012. As of May 2014, she is a full-time staff member of the Dean’s Office events team.
Along with Kristín and Elizabeth, Hope Parker and other staff make these great events and programs fun for everyone involved. We put on successful events because of our outstanding staff and their monumental efforts! Be sure to thank them if you see them during these events!
HOMECOMING
Join us for the Homecoming Block party on Saturday, November 3, 2018. Entertainment starts four hours before kickoff with a parade and block party. Student orgs and other groups can sign up to be part of the parade.
Faculty, staff and students alike can make the Block Party a success three ways.
- Become an exhibitor. Show students, alumni and all of the Sun Devil community what awesome things you’re working on with demos and hands-on fun. Find out how to be an exhibitor at the Homecoming Block Party.
2. Volunteer at the Homecoming Block Party. It’s the place to be to show your love for engineering and technology! You can also network with faculty, staff, students, alumni and the local community. Volunteers who work more than three hours get free BBQ at the end of their shift! Check In the Loop to sign up to volunteer at the Block Party.
3. Be our guest. Everybody can join us for activities, but only ticket holders receive a free meal! You can now register to attend the Block Party!
Learn more about ASU’s Homecoming festivities.
Kristín Olafs and Elizabeth Cross help make our Homecoming Block Party the best party.
STUDY ABROAD
Experiencing a new culture and learning professional engineering practices from around the globe are valuable experiences that make students competitive in the job market. Students can choose from exchange and partnership programs and faculty-directed summer or semester programs.
Promote study abroad opportunities to your students or create your own! Work with the Study Abroad Office (SAO) to plan, create and teach a study abroad program. Leading a study abroad program provides global competence for you and your students, adds experiential learning to your courses and is a great opportunity to better connect with your students. It also enhances your teaching, research and service and provides a fully supported method to travel and conduct academic work abroad.
Find out more about study abroad and how you can get involved.
OUTREACH
At the Fulton Schools, we like to share our passion for STEM education with the community and help young students see engineering as a path they, too, can pursue.
- Field Trip Days let elementary, middle and high school students explore a day in the life of our engineers through hands-on activities with Fulton Schools students and tour our labs and facilities. These events take place throughout fall and spring semesters at the Tempe and Polytechnic campuses.
- ASU Open Door invites all of the local community to see what’s happening in our labs and other facilities, participate in hands-on activities and demos and learn about engineering, technology, aviation, construction, design and more. Look for more information on the event next semester!
- FIRST® Robotics and its FIRST LEGO League programs help elementary, middle and high school students ignite an enthusiasm for the discovery of STEM through hands-on learning and a global robotics competition. Get involved, inspire future engineers, and build your mentorship skills!
See all the outreach events and programs we put on and look for announcements on how to get involved in In the Loop.
Assistant Dean Tirupalavanam Ganesh works with university students, P-14 populations, engineering faculty and teacher candidates/mentor teachers. As a Tooker professor, he develops outreach programs. Young Engineers Shape the World is a two-year program aimed at female high school students enrolled in advanced placement/international baccalaureate to enhance their interest in engineering. Engineering Futures builds a network of peers, alumni and professionals to help build greater awareness of the workplace, entrepreneurship and Internet of Things skills. Engineers for Education is a program for undergraduate engineers to inspire middle and high school youth to see engineering as a socially relevant profession.
Hope Parker, associate director, advocates awareness, educate, social and personal impact, and inspiration for our next generation and our future. Along with the fabulous P-14 Engineering Education and Outreach team, Hope helps to build engineering and social entrepreneurship based programs and opportunities for preschool through community college students. From summer camps to FIRST LEGO League robotics to EPICS High to Young Engineering Shape the World to SPARK App league to faculty support, the team has something for everyone!
Jennifer Velez, coordinator sr., has the awesome pleasure of managing the EPICS High program for middle school and high school students. Contact Jennifer to learn how you can support this social entrepreneurship program in your community. Jennifer also oversees the National Summer Transportation Institute, a residential program for high school students that engages participants in the various fields of engineering required to ensure safe and efficient transit across the state.
Hilary Mitchell, senior coordinator runs the FIRST Lego League and Jr. programs — more than 430 teams across the state of Arizona! Ask her about how to incorporate robotics into your program or volunteer for one of many events.
Brittney Martin, coordinator sr., leads the team effort to design and execute key PreK-14 events throughout the year. Working from both the Tempe and Polytechnic campuses, Brittney works primarily on coordinating Field Trip Days, Fulton Summer Programs, Girl’s Make-A-Thon, SPARK App League and ASU Open Door, to name a few. Additionally, she supports Tirupalavanam Ganesh in delivering teacher training workshops designed to build engineering into K-12 curriculums.
Coordinator Lauren Preble coordinates the Young Engineers Shape the World program, which works to provide high schools students with engineering exploration opportunities, intended to guide students in making more informed decisions on their college and career choices. YESW is a mentorship program with the goal to increase the number of female students pursuing an engineering degree, and if you would like to get involved in the program as a mentor, please contact Lauren.
CONVOCATION
After cheering on your students at ASU Commencement, it’s time to recognize your students at the Fulton Schools Convocation ceremony at the Maroon Convocation or the Gold Convocation. Convocation is a high-spirited event to celebrate undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students in the six Fulton Schools. All graduating students will walk across the stage to receive congratulations from the deans and school directors. Faculty advisors will place hoods on their doctoral students, but master’s students will not be hooded on stage.
Make sure your graduating seniors, master’s students and doctoral candidates know about Grad Fair events in October hosted on every campus. Check out the information for the Tempe and Polytechnic campuses. This is where they can get their caps and gowns, announcements, class rings and more.
Don’t forget your own graduation regalia — watch for announcements in In the Loop later this semester on how to rent or buy.
Kristín Ólafs and Elizabeth Cross are the Convocation planning champs! Along with their many staff and student volunteers, they make this event possible for our grads.
ORDER OF THE ENGINEER
Graduating seniors and alumni from ABET-accredited programs and professional engineers can make a lifelong commitment to the engineering ideals of integrity, pride and responsibility through the Order of the Engineer. Professor of Practice Steven Trimble was the first to organize an Order of the Engineer event for his Senior Design class graduates, and it soon grew to be an entire Fulton Schools tradition. This commitment is symbolized by a ring worn on the small finger of your working hand.
THE PLEDGE OF THE COMPUTING PROFESSIONAL
The Pledge of the Computing Professionals is an organization which promotes the notion of computing as a recognized profession at the time of graduation for students in Computing Science and related programs. The Pledge is modeled after the Order of the Engineer. The Pledge of the Computing Professional is solely intended to promote and recognize the ethical and moral behavior of graduates of computing-related degree programs as they transition to careers of service to society.
Watch In the Loop for registration and event info for these Fall 2018 events.
LEARN ABOUT MORE OPPORTUNITIES
Meet the staff behind some of our extracurricular activities
Meet the staff behind career development opportunities
Meet the staff behind entrepreneurial offerings
