At the University of Maryland, College Park, NSBE’s 2008–09 Chapter Executive Board was on a mission: “Win Region II. Let Nationals take care of itself.”

After failing to place at last year’s ceremony, this year’s Distinguished Chapter — officially named the Black Engineers Society — had something to prove to itself, and the competition. The disappointment that came with a lack of recognition on the regional or national level instilled a new drive in last year’s president, Sidney Ngochi, the vice president, Victor Nwaneri, and their board.

The board’s two-day retreat at the beginning of the school year — held at Booz Allen Hamilton’s corporate headquarters in McLean, Va., and on the University of Maryland campus — emphasized effective management strategies and marketing techniques, and helped determine the successes and failures of previous years.

After the retreat, the chapter got to work.

“The whole chapter was at a morning session meeting,” Ngochi relates. “When the meeting was over, we were all standing in the back of the room talking amongst ourselves. Active members were saying, ‘Now I want to be on the e-board, because we have to do it even better next year and show we’re one of the best chapters, if not the best chapter, in the region.’ Members who hadn’t been too involved were then saying they wanted to get involved, as well. We had current e-board members saying they’re going to run again, because they wanted to be even better at it.

“(We took on) a new attitude,” says Ngochi, “a ‘no mistakes’ mentality.”

Like Family

Another key to success was the close friendships of the 18 members of the board, and increased member involvement, according to both Ngochi and Nwaneri.

“Our chapter is like a family.” says Ngochi. “We go to such a big school and (the other executive board members) are the people we started with, who we hang out with.”

Board members attended many of the same classes, studied and socialized in groups and spent time fulfilling NSBE duties at meetings and events.

Ngochi and Nwaneri, friends and members of the executive board since the 2006–07 school year, had been transitioning for leadership since that time, making long- and short-term goals for the chapter even before assuming its highest positions. But Ngochi says the real work began when he and Nwaneri opened the lines of communication with the other members of the board, by holding several teleconferences before the start of the fall semester.

“I spent the summer contacting everyone, talking with everyone on a personal basis, making sure that everyone was on good terms and building our relationship as an e-board,” adds Nwaneri. “That helped, because we weren’t only close but remained motivated throughout the school year.”