Outstanding Recruitment Program 2010-2011

President:  Ben Slepp ([email protected])

Treasurer:  Anthony Pesce ([email protected])

Secretary:  Joe Flynn ([email protected])

Webmaster:  Grant Butler ([email protected])

Faculty Sponsor:  Nahrain Gehani [Dean of College of Computing Sciences at NJIT] ([email protected])

NJIT ACM Description:

The NJIT ACM Chapter is a thriving, on-campus organization that provides students with the resources they need to excel in numerous fields of technology including:  Computing Hardware, Web Applications, Networking, Programming, Game Design, Graphic Design, App Development and much more.  NJIT ACM does this by hosting numerous events, programs, and special interest groups.  We keep our students updated regularly about all of these happenings through weekly meetings, our own website, Twitter updates, and Facebook Events.  Our events span from competitions, seminars, learning workshops,  and we also conduct peer-to-peer tutoring in our office.

Active Member Count:  70 members

NJIT ACM Recruitment Program:

One of the obvious difficulties of recruiting new members for the ACM chapter at NJIT is that most people that would be interested in what we have to offer are already busy programming, designing, and using computer hardware extensively.  In order to expand their knowledge of computer technologies and software it is essential to connect with others that know and want to know more about the same subject.  The best way that we found to get these people connected through our organization has been by embracing the technologies that students are using while enhancing their knowledge of them.

For individuals on the go, Twitter updates come in handy for a quick mobile alert about our events.  We use Google Moderator, Google’s suggestion box web application, to make sure that users who don’t have the ability to say anything during meetings can still express their opinions, comments, questions, and concerns.  In addition, our very own NJIT ACM website shows all of our current updates through the calendar, news, and Special Interest Group pages. 

When a student initially comes to an ACM meeting, they become subscribed to our Google group to receive weekly emails.  For those who cannot come every Monday, we reiterate what we discussed both during the meetings and through the Google groups and our website.  When there is a bigger project at hand that requires extensive user collaboration, we turn to Google Wave’s handy features and Dropbox’s functionality.  Designs, ideas, and files are easily shared amongst the members and this keeps people interested due to the ease of access to these projects.

Although the aforementioned methods of recruitment are effective for getting people connected, it is the events that we run that inspire people to join the ACM chapter at NJIT in the first place.  We make sure anyone that is part of the IT, CS, and IS programs will have access to frequently occurring trips, speakers, workshops, and social get-togethers that pertain to their specializations.  Whether interested in programming, database management, graphic design, network security, etc., there will always be a few events to look forward to.  After these events a lot of students end up realizing that the ACM is a great way for them to get more involved with the computer technologies that they love.

When the ACM student chapter at NJIT was re-established in 2007 it had a total of 5 members, and since that time we have expanded to 70 full time members and up to 180 students that follow and/or participate in the events that we offer.  Because of us, people have become much more active on campus, and the real reason why our membership is increasing more and more each semester is that: people feel our events are important to their academic and personal interests here at NJIT and we have given them a way to stay connected and constantly learn something new and exciting.

Students who take computer science related courses:

College of Computing Sciences Student Enrollment:

• Undergraduate:            916

• Graduate (MS)              566

• PHD                              69

• Total:                           1551