[Faculty] Engineering Valedictorian Vote Deadline: April 12th

Wed Apr 12 17:25:38 PDT 2017

Hi Donovan:

If you desire to have greater participation in the voting process, you
might wish to allow more than 41 hours for the faculty to read your message
and vote.  E-mail voting, by its very nature, results in low turn-outs.
Furthermore, I presume that you gave the Chairs adequate time to solicit
their faculty for nominees and to also compose accurate descriptions of
them.

This whole process seems a bit rushed.  In the past, we actually did this
in person in a regular College of Engineering Faculty meeting to award
which student (after 5 years of very hard academic work) deserved the honor
of being the Outstanding Engineering Student.

Andy Szeto

On Wed, Apr 12, 2017 at 2:46 PM, Donovan Geiger <dgeiger at mail.sdsu.edu>
wrote:

> Hello Ashkan,
>
> I'm always interested to hear recommendations on ways to increase
> participation in this voting process as it has been a reoccurring issue. As
> for the faculty selecting the candidate with the lowest GPA, I cannot
> comment on that.
>
> Best,
> Donovan
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, Apr 12, 2017 at 1:51 PM, Ashkan Ashrafi <ashrafi at mail.sdsu.edu>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi Donovan,
>>
>> It is interesting that the student with the lowest GPA among others has
>> been selected as the valedictorian by the vote of less than 1/3 of the CoE
>> faculty. This raises a lot of question marks above the whole process.
>>
>>
>> Best,
>> Ashkan
>>
>>
>>
>> Ashkan Ashrafi, Ph.D.
>> Associate Professor and Graduate Advisor
>> Director, Signal Processing Research Laboratory
>>
>> Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
>> San Diego State University
>> 5500 Campanile Dr., E-410A
>> San Diego, CA 92182-1309
>> Tel: (619)594-3703 <(619)%20594-3703>
>> Fax: (619)594-2654 <(619)%20594-2654>
>> email: ashrafi at mail.sdsu.edu
>> URL: http://jason.sdsu.edu/~ashrafi
>>
>> On 4/12/17 1:33 PM, Donovan Geiger wrote:
>>
>> Hi Andy,
>>
>> This honor is the College Outstanding Graduate, but we internally use the
>> term Valedictorian as a more recognizable label for students and to
>> differentiate it as a higher honor than the Outstanding Graduates at the
>> departmental level.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Donovan
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Apr 12, 2017 at 12:58 PM, Andrew Szeto <aszeto at mail.sdsu.edu>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Dear Donovan:
>>>
>>> Can you please clarify?  To most people, the honor of being the
>>> Valedictorian is different from being the "Outstanding Engineering
>>> Graduate."  What exactly is this honor?  Thanks.
>>>
>>> Andy Szeto
>>>
>>> On Wed, Apr 12, 2017 at 12:41 PM, Donovan Geiger <dgeiger at mail.sdsu.edu>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> COE Faculty:
>>>>
>>>> Please join me in congratulating Victor Ortega as our Engineering Class
>>>> of 2017 Valedictorian!
>>>>
>>>> The vote tally was:
>>>>
>>>> 10 Ortega
>>>> 6 West
>>>> 2 Reyes
>>>> 1 Akers
>>>>
>>>> Thank you,
>>>> Donovan
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Mon, Apr 10, 2017 at 5:35 PM, Donovan Geiger <dgeiger at mail.sdsu.edu>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Engineering Faculty and Staff:
>>>>>
>>>>> As the departmental outstanding graduates have been selected, voting
>>>>> for Engineering Valedictorian will now take place. Please select one
>>>>> and email your choice to me by* 12:00pm, Wednesday April, 12th.*
>>>>>
>>>>> The candidates are:
>>>>>
>>>>> __________________________________________
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> *Joseph Akers Major GPA 3.93, SDSU GPA 3.95 Environmental Engineering *
>>>>>
>>>>> I am a Marine Corps Veteran. I was living in San Diego since 2010 at
>>>>> MCAS Miramar. I chose the major I wanted about a year before I left the
>>>>> military. During my research, I learned that an ABET accredited school was
>>>>> going to be as important to me as an Environmental Engineer as learning how
>>>>> to be an Environmental Engineer. I found several schools that fit the bill
>>>>> but after a few searches where google filled in the blank after SDSU with
>>>>> "best party schools" I knew that I would at least have a few years of fun
>>>>> if I couldn't cut it. San Diego State actually became my favorite choice
>>>>> really quickly. Everything about it just made sense such as the location
>>>>> and the teacher reviews. But it was February. Admissions were full and I
>>>>> was going to be stuck waiting a year or so to get a spot. Looked like I was
>>>>> going to Ohio State.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> There was a Marine Corps Program called the Leadership Scholar Program
>>>>> that allowed me to get into SDSU where my only competition for admission
>>>>> was other Marines. The spots were actually filled but through sheer luck of
>>>>> someone dropping out of going to SDSU and with my Marine Corps
>>>>> accomplishments, I was able to get a spot to start school in fall 2013. I
>>>>> quickly joined the Student Veterans Organization and even helped start
>>>>> their intramural sports teams. I met some good friends through there but
>>>>> decided to try more professional organizations like Engineers Without
>>>>> Borders and American Water Works Association.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> School was challenging but I benefited greatly from the GI Bill which
>>>>> paid for my schooling and gave me the freedom to keep my grades up.
>>>>> Unfortunately for me, I had to start with classes like Precalculus and
>>>>> would be playing catch up to My Map. Engineering requires a couple more
>>>>> credits than other degrees so I would be here for a few summer sessions as
>>>>> well. There were some challenging teachers, some unorganized ones and some
>>>>> amazing ones like Professor Smith and Professional Mladenov. Overall it was
>>>>> a great experience.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> During my time at SDSU I have become a Big Brother volunteer for Bigs
>>>>> of San Diego and I have been the recipient of several scholarships,
>>>>> including the Sinegal Veterans Scholarship. I am currently working with
>>>>> SPAWAR because of San Diego State's veteran's programs in a research
>>>>> fellowship. I can only look back and thank SDSU for the experience granted.
>>>>>
>>>>> _________________________________________
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> * Victor Ortega Major GPA 3.81, SDSU GPA 3.91 Aerospace Engineering*
>>>>>
>>>>> Victor Ortega graduated valedictorian from Monte Vista High School in
>>>>> Spring Valley before being admitted to SDSU’s Aerospace Engineering program
>>>>> in the Fall of 2013. He will be earning his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering
>>>>> with a 3.919 cumulative GPA this May. He has shown a dedication to helping
>>>>> other students succeed through being one of the first to participate in
>>>>> Monte Vista’s peer tutoring program as a math tutor and later working as a
>>>>> college advisor at an inner city high school in City Heights. As a
>>>>> first-generation college student and son of immigrants who originally
>>>>> attended school in City Heights.  Since 2016, he has been working as
>>>>> an undergraduate research assistant looking at resin injection methods of
>>>>> repairing internal delamination in carbon fiber laminates in the Aerospace
>>>>> Engineering Department. He has been accepted to the SDSU-UCSD Joint
>>>>> Doctoral Program in Structural Engineering and awarded a 5-year fellowship
>>>>> by UCSD.
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> * Karl Reyes Major GPA 3.87, SDSU GPA 3.93 *
>>>>>
>>>>> *Mechanical Engineering *
>>>>>
>>>>> Karl is a senior mechanical engineering student, and will be
>>>>> graduating in May 2017. As a student at SDSU, he was a member of numerous
>>>>> organizations, including the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
>>>>> (ASME), Design/Build/Fly (DBF), and Tau Beta Pi – The Engineering Honor
>>>>> Society. In Spring 2015, Karl worked with a team to design and manufacture
>>>>> a wall-mounting mechanism of an all-terrain vehicle for the ASME Student
>>>>> Professional Development Conference (SPDC) student design competition. In
>>>>> Spring 2016, he contributed to the manufacturing of a prototype aircraft as
>>>>> a manufacturing team member for the American Institute of Aeronautics and
>>>>> Astronautics (AIAA) Design/Build/Fly competition. Currently, he is an
>>>>> officer in Tau Beta Pi California Xi. Outside of his extracurricular
>>>>> activities, Karl has also had internship experience with Solar Turbines
>>>>> Incorporated, where he was a Mechanical Engineering Intern in the
>>>>> Combustion Department. He has accepted a position with Northrop Grumman,
>>>>> and will be working as a Mechanical Engineer in the Vehicle Engineering
>>>>> Department after graduating in May.
>>>>>
>>>>> _________________________________________
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> * Stephen West Major GPA 3.97, SDSU GPA 3.94*
>>>>> * Electrical Engineering *
>>>>> We nominate Stephen West as our outstanding graduate for his top 3.94
>>>>> GPA that includes 97 units taken at SDSU.  Faculty who had the privilege to
>>>>> teach him in EE430 and other courses recall West to be a quiet studious,
>>>>> smart, and respectful student. He has involved in student organizations and
>>>>> extracurricular activities.
>>>>>
>>>>> __________________________________________
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Once again, the deadline to vote is this Wednesday, April 12, at noon.
>>>>>
>>>>> Best regards,
>>>>>
>>>>> *Donovan Geiger, MBA*
>>>>> Student Affairs Officer
>>>>> College of Engineering
>>>>> San Diego State University
>>>>> 619.594.6079 <%28619%29%20594-6079>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Faculty mailing list
>>>> Faculty at engineering.sdsu.edu
>>>> http://engineering.sdsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/faculty
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Andrew Y. J. Szeto, Ph.D., P.E.
>>> Professor and IEEE Fellow
>>> Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering
>>> San Diego State University
>>> 5500 Campanile Drive  MC 1309
>>> San Diego, CA. 92182-1309
>>> 619-594-5723 <%28619%29%20594-5723> - voice   619-594-2654
>>> <%28619%29%20594-2654> - FAX
>>>
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>>
>
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-- 
Andrew Y. J. Szeto, Ph.D., P.E.
Professor and IEEE Fellow
Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering
San Diego State University
5500 Campanile Drive  MC 1309
San Diego, CA. 92182-1309
619-594-5723 - voice   619-594-2654 - FAX
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