Region Collegiate Team
The Region Collegiate Team is comprised of four collegiate and four professional members that work on the regional level to make sure your voices are heard.
The team brings together representatives from:
- The Sections
- The Senate
- The Region Council
- The Collegiate Leadership Coaching Committee
- The Collegiate Interests Commitee, and
- The Membership Committee.
They meet monthly to discuss how students in our region are doing and how they can help.
To learn more about getting involved on a regional level, read about the team’s roles by clicking the links below!
Collegiate Representatives | Collegiate Communications Editor | Governor
Lt Governor | Collegiate Leadership Coach | Collegiate Interest Representative
Collegiate Membership Chair
Regional Collegiate Team- Organization Chart
Region Collegiate Representative (RCR)
Your Collegiate Representative (RCR) is a student elected by you—the region membership—to represent our region on a national level. Our region has two RCRs, because we’re the biggest region in SWE!
The RCRs make sure that your section is the best it can be. They keep the Region Governor and Board of Directors up to date on the needs of students in our area. They also run meetings at National Conference and Regional Conference, attend a summer leadership training conference, and network with SWE leaders from across the country!
Your RCRs are your best resource for questions about anything SWE-related. They can find you help with membership issues, financial problems, or report deadlines. If your section needs help, email them at rcr-h@swe.org
Tina Gervais
Tina is a senior in Computer Engineering at Iowa State University.
Kerstin Diesch
Kerstin is a senior in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities.
Region Collegiate Communications Editor (RCCE)
Your Collegiate Communications Editor is a student elected to improve communication between sections within our region. Primarily, she manages this blog!
The RCCE helps share best practices within our region and also helps the RCRs with their role, such as running the collegiate meetings at National and Regional conferences. She is your best resource for mass-distributing information, such as events or deadlines. If your section has an event you want publicized regionally, or a great idea (or event, social, workshop…) they’d like to share with the rest of the region, email the RCCE at rcce-h@swe.org
Haley Vingsness
Haley is a senior in Scientific and Technical Communication, concentrating in Mechanical Engineering, at Michigan Technological University.
Region Governor
Elizabeth Bierman
Your Region Governor is a professional member. She runs and represents our region. She also advises region leaders, keeps us updated on SWE issues, reports on our needs, and ensures the health of your section and the region as a whole.
Elizabeth Bierman
Elizabeth joined SWE in 1994 as a student at Iowa State University. She’s currently a member of the Minnesota Section. In the Minnesota Section she’s been President, Vice President, COR Representative, and Awards & Recognition Chair. She has also been a member of the National Outreach, Awards, and Program Development Grant Committees. At the Region level, she has been a Leadership Coach and Lieutenant Governor. Elizabeth is a 2006 recipient of the SWE Distinguished New Engineer award.
Elizabeth is a product support program manager for Honeywell Aerospace in Minneapolis, MN. She manages service issues for aerospace navigation and guidance equipment. She is a certified program management professional.
Region Lieutenant Governor
April Privett, P.E.
The Lt. Governor is the organizer of the Region Collegiate Team. She facilitates information-sharing between us. She also serves as Region Governor if the Governor is temporarily unable to serve.
April Privett, P.E.
April has been active in SWE at the local, regional, and national levels. She currently serves as the Region H Lt. Governor. She also served as the National Scholarship Committee chair, as a professional & collegiate section president, as a section representative (COR), and on the Collegiate Leadership Coaching Committee.
As an Engineering Supervisor with Caterpillar Inc., April leads a team of design and test engineers.
April is driven by a vision of gender equality in engineering. She believes SWE can achieve this by being a resource for leaders and by supporting SWE members in their aspirations. The Lt. Governor position is a way to contribute to making SWE the foremost resource on womens’ engineering issues. Encouraging our members to continually develop and grow will lead to a stronger society, a greater presence in the community, and movement towards acceptance of women engineers.
April’s husband, Bryan Groth, is also a SWE member & supporter. They live in Morton, IL.
Collegiate Leadership Coach (CLC)
Melissa Zaczek
The CLC works with collegiate sections to help them improve. Specific section issues (money, membership, recruiting, etc.) can be coached individually. A CLC can travel to visit your section! If your section needs help, ask!
Melissa Zaczek, Team Leader
Melissa Zaczek has been a member of the Collegiate Leadership Coaching Committee since 2005. Originally serving in Region E, where she attended Rochester Institute of Technology, Melissa moved to Region H when she began working as a Systems and Performance Development Engineer with Cummins Emissions Solutions in Columbus, IN in 2006.
Melissa joined SWE as a freshman and served as Advertising Chair her first year, President her second and third years, and Co-Chair of Region E’s Regional Conference before joining the CLCC. Most of her experience in Region E has been in helping develop small, struggling sections. In contrast, Region H has provided the opportunity to help larger sections develop and become more effective.
An excited group of Region H Collegiate Leadership Coaches are ready to help your section succeed. Ask us how we can help.
Collegiate Interest Representative (CIR)
Cathy Pieronek
The CIR is a collegiate or professional member that represents our region to the National Collegiate Interests Committee. She works to improve SWE’s value to collegiate members, evaluates programs, creates new leadership opportunities, and streamlines processes.
Cathy Pieronek
Cathy is currently the President of the Chicago Regional Section, the chair of the National Government Relations & Public Policy Committee, a member of the Region H Conference Planning Committee, and your Collegiate Interest Representative for Region H! She has been a member of SWE for 27 years, and of the Chicago Regional Section since 1992.
Cathy is the Director of Academic Affairs and Women’s Engineering Program at the University of Notre Dame College of Engineering. She’s their first female director. She earned a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and a J.D. from the University of Notre Dame, as well as a M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from UCLA.
Cathy’s research interests focus on women in engineering education. She incorporates her law background in her research by addressing gender equity and Title IX in engineering education, and recently authored a white paper and position paper for SWE on that subject. She has also published papers in refereed law journals and appeared on a number of television shows.
Region Collegiate Membership Chair (RCMC)
The RCMC is a collegiate or professional member that represents our region to the National Membership Committee. She helps collegiate sections increase their membership and maintain their charter requirements.
Ashley Bartlett
Ashley is a senior at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities.
