INFORMS Student Chapter President Secrets to Success

When starting my Ph.D. program at the University of Michigan (UM), I decided to get involved in the INFORMS student chapter because it was the perfect platform to be a positive role model for women and other underrepresented groups intrigued by STEM. Over the course of my Ph.D., I served as the secretary (2020), vice president/treasurer (2021) and most recently, president (2022). During my term as president, the INFORMS student chapter at UM hosted/co-hosted more than 50 events and received the student chapter award at the summa cum laude level from INFORMS. Here I’ll share what I believe are two key secrets to success as an INFORMS student chapter president and why I am glad I chose to pursue serving as the UM student chapter president.

Secret 1: Stay Organized

My first secret to success is staying organized because as president, you are juggling multiple responsibilities and always thinking about different events. One of my biggest tips is utilizing calendar reminders. For example, I had a reminder set for every other month to remind me to send out a When2meet survey for the leadership team meetings. Also, when communicating with a leadership team member about an event, if I shared that I would follow up with them in one week, then I would set a reminder to ensure that I followed through with that promise. As we all know, a week goes by much faster than we would like. Other organizational tips include completing an established agenda before the start of every meeting, having a shared Google Drive folder in which each leadership team member has a folder to save event planning details, and making a consistent schedule to complete administrative responsibilities (e.g., check email list sign-ups every Wednesday).

Secret 2: Diverse Leadership Team

My second secret to success is recognizing that a diverse team with different ideas and perspectives as well as supporting the members of your team is what makes an INFORMS student chapter great. During my term as president, my leadership team consisted of 14 students, including myself. These students differed in their cultural background, education level (e.g., B.S., M.S., Ph.D.) and professional interests (e.g., academia, industry, consulting). I believe that the diversity of our leadership team influenced the variety of events such as the “Path to Industry for Ph.D.s” seminar, American Airlines information session, “Life After Undergrad” panel, Xplore Engineering Day (fourth through eighth grade), Discover Engineering Day (8th through 10th grade), and a mentorship board game social that allowed us to attract students with different interests and goals.

A final thought on this secret to success is that events are only carried out if you support your leadership team (and student chapters from other universities) in their interests and ideas. Therefore, when a leadership team member (or a student chapter from another university) shares an event idea, I encourage you to be open-minded. If one of your leadership team members wants to have a Paint Night and you are not the best painter, recognize that your team member is passionate about the initiative and support them in any way that you can to make the event successful. You never know, your painting may turn out better than you expect! 

Doubts About Serving as President?

I have been asked, “Are you glad that you served as the INFORMS student chapter president at UM?” My response is easy – YES! I would never go back and reverse my decision to serve as the president. The opportunity allowed me to meet and get to know amazing people that I may never have interacted with if I did not serve as president. It also opened many doors for me. This article would never have been published in OR/MS Today had I not been president. A final reason why I am happy with my decision is that through mentorship, outreach and social events, the position allowed me to accomplish my true goal of being a positive role model for women and other underrepresented groups intrigued by STEM.

I am truly grateful that I had the opportunity to be president of the INFORMS student chapter at the University of Michigan, but I could not have done it without my student chapter leadership team, student chapter members, faculty advisor Professor Ruiwei Jiang, prior student chapter presidents, the Industrial and Operations Engineering Department at UM, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society at UM, and fellow student chapters from other universities. I look forward to seeing what the next generations of presidents do with the student chapter at UM and other universities across the country.

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