Engineering Open House 2008

Friendly Reminders/Tips

See Coordinator Timeline for date sensitive action items!

Exhibitor Deadline

Exhibitor Forms are to be completed on-line by March 21, 2008. Please share this web address with all participating exhibitors and ask that they complete it on-line as soon as possible. If you plan to have an exhibit and do not submit the form by March 21, you must notify Pamela Shute at pjshute@u.washington.edu or call 206-543-5272. If you miss this deadline, it is possible that your exhibit information will not be included in the Open House Program.

Advertising Open House

This year the College is primarily advertising open house via email, web, free publication/newspaper calendars, and high school visits/outreach. If you have any information you can provide to the College (email list serves, website advertising, etc.), please send this information to Pamela Shute at pjshute@u.washington.edu so that we can spread the news about Open House. No save-the-date post cards were sent out this year.

Implementing New Exhibits

We have received feedback from past attendees that they would appreciate seeing more new exhibits each year (this is generally those individuals who attend annually). We encourage you to consider implementing approximately 25% new exhibits this year. We realize that it would be very difficult and not beneficial for your department to implement all new exhibits, but a few new ones would be beneficial for our repeat attendees and allows for a little change from the year before. This is a recommendation only.
In previous years, the Engineering Professional Societies such as the Puget Sound Engineering Council have been eager to participate in Engineering Open House and would like to be able to have exhibits within their respective fields. There are some departments currently who are working with their professional societies. This is one option for adding something new within your department.

Volunteers for exhibits/tour guides

We recommend that you start seeking student/staff/faculty volunteers as soon as possible to help set-up and run your department exhibits and provide tours of your facilities/labs (send out emails, ask faculty if they can recommend student projects from their classes, etc.) The more student volunteers the better. Look within your departmental student societies, undergraduate and graduate students, etc. Department advisers may be a good resource in assisting you to find volunteers. Some suggestions from past coordinators of how they recruited volunteers: food, sign-up form via the web, personal contact, friends of volunteers, student leaders, email specific times and duties and hand out t-shirts when they arrive for their duty not before.

Volunteer Recognition

The College of Engineering will provide Open House T-shirts for programs and departments. Please send email to pjshute@u.washington.edu by March 31, 2008 with the number of t-shirts your department would like to order. The percentage breakdown will be: 25% Small, 35% Medium, 27% Large, 13% X-Large. Please let Pamela know ASAP if this percentage breakout does not work for your department (it may or may not be accommodated – but will be noted for next year).
The College of Engineering will also provide a food allowance to departments and programs to purchase food for volunteers. An email regarding your food allowance will be sent by mid April.
The College of Engineering will also be arranging a deal with a local pizza company to receive discounted pizzas (last year we received pizzas for $8.00/each). Stay tuned for an email from Pamela Shute with details.

Welcome Booth / Greeters / Arrival times

We recommend that you have a welcome booth/table set-up at the entrance to your department in order to greet and guide groups to the various exhibits within your department as well as answer questions.
A college-wide welcome booth will be set-up in front of Loew Hall during open house to pass out maps/programs and to answer questions. Lost children should be directed to the welcome tent at Loew Hall.
Please be set-up and ready to start at the arrival times of 9am on Friday and 10am on Saturday.
The College will distribute about 50 programs/maps to each department/program prior to the event to hand out to attendees who may not have picked one up at the welcome booth at Loew Hall.

Signage throughout your department

Major signs will be provided by the College of Engineering (e.g., parking signs, registration signs, etc.) The College will provide two sandwich board signs per department for outside your building. The College will set these signs up the night before the Open House and will pick the sandwich boards up outside your building on Saturday afternoon. If at all possible, please bring the signs in on Friday evening and place back out Saturday morning (to avoid theft). You are welcome to place balloons and identifiers on the signs, however, please do not write on the signs.
It is each department's responsibility to provide signage within its buildings. Make sure to have clear and concise signs directing individuals to all exhibits within your department. Make sure to also provide signs outside of all restrooms (signs leading up to the restrooms are helpful as well). Please be consistent with your signage throughout your department.
In order to maintain uniformity between all departments, the College of Engineering will supply each department with bright color paper to print signs on. Please email Pamela Shute (pjshute@u.washington.edu) with how much paper your department requires for signs by April 4, 2008.

Accessibility within your bu ilding/exhibits

Are your exhibits set-up for all age groups? Remember there are small children who will be visiting these booths so it is important to make your exhibits easy to see.
Due to the large attendance (over 10,000 – between both days), please work with your departmental volunteers to help with traffic control and to lead groups throughout your building so that individuals do not have to wait too long to get in to see exhibits.
Make sure your exhibits reach your audience (focus: kindergarten through twelfth grade).
Please make sure that all individuals can get in and around all exhibits (i.e., wheelchair accessible).
Security/Liability: Lock all laboratories not in use and take care to move things out of the ways of inquisitive hands. Tape off areas that you do not want people to enter

Space on Campus

The College of Engineering has reserved Mary Gates Hall Commons for CoE Programs, societies, and corporate sponsors. If you are a department and would like to utilize these spaces, please contact Pamela Shute. The College of Engineering will work with CoE Programs and Student Societies with regards to their exhibit logistics. Rahel Gebreab (rahel@u.washington.edu) will be your primary contact for MGH. Departments should work with Room Assignments and their building coordinators to coordinate space and logistics for their exhibits. Since some of the engineering buildings have non-engineering classes being conducted during Open House, you are encouraged to notify instructors (through signage on doors) that there will be large groups walking in and out of your building on April 25 and 26.

This can be done by signage the week of Open House on building and classroom doors. Please note, however, we are not able to request that an instructor move their class. You can, however, work with Room Assignments to try and negotiate room availability. Outside space. All outside space must be approved by the "Use of University Facilities" committee. If you plan to utilize outside space for your exhibits, please email pjshute@u.washington.edu by March 16 (or sooner).

Selling and Making Items at Open House

If you have a student organization/group that wants to sell items (fundraise) at open house, the College of Engineering is okay with you doing this. HOWEVER, the College of Engineering is unable to approve this. Approval obtained through SAO.

Those of you who are making items in your exhibit such as nitrogen ice cream, glass beads, etc. – you need to get a food handler permit or approval for the location of where you conduct these exhibits.

Student groups must obtain approval from the Student Activities Office in HUB 207, sao@u.washington.edu, 206-543-2380, http://depts.washington.edu/sao/ -- point of contact: Steve Railsback, 616-0298, railsbck@u.washington.edu -- groups will need to complete forms/documentation NO LATER than April 4, 2008 . Please let Pamela know by April 4 if your department plans to sell items, so that we can have documentation of all department activities.

Friendly reminders

Make sure all bathrooms are stocked with the appropriate necessities (e.g., paper towels, toilet paper, etc.) on both Friday and Saturday of the event.
The College will notify custodial services regarding the event and which buildings will have excessive traffic. However, if your building coordinator can also notify custodial services, this would be appreciated. Thank you.
Make sure all students, staff, and faculty within your department are aware of dates and times of Open House so that they can answer questions and direct individuals as needed. Inform them of the Open House website: www.engr.washington.edu/openhouse.

Engineering Advising & Diversity Center, 301 Loew Hall, 206-543-1770, eadc@u.washington.edu