The Student Leadership Council (SLC) of the NSF Engineering Research Center for Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems (ERC/RMS) at the University of Michigan volunteered to conduct a study of the role played by SLCs at various centers across the country with the goal of identifying "best practices." Toward this end, a comprehensive survey was sent to SLCs.

8.2.1 Study Methodology
The survey was drafted based on the experience of the SLC at the University of Michigan ERC/RMS. This survey was sent to all 19 SLCs listed on the ERC Association's national website, as well as to some recently graduated ERCs. Ten of the SLCs at current centers and one from a graduated center responded.

The survey addressed issues in key areas generally relevant to all SLCs, such as organizational structure, communication with students, faculty, and industry, social and outreach activities, site visit preparations, and facilities management. Specific questions were also included to address the special features of ERCs that span multiple universities. The respondents were also given a chance to share their ideas on issues that were not addressed in the survey, and also given an opportunity to evaluate their performance in various areas on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the best. A copy of the survey is provided in section 8.13.1, Appendix A: Survey Questionnaire.

The responses from the survey were compiled and analyzed by a special committee set up by the SLC at ERC/RMS for this purpose. The Committee on SLC Best Practices consisted of the following members:
1. Siddharth Chandramouli (Chair)
2. Theodor Freiheit
3. Qiang Huang
4. Tahla Kidwai
5. Valerie Maier-Speredelozzi
6. Steve Swisher
7. Felipe Torres

The team members jointly compiled data from the survey, summarized findings, and drew insights on "SLC best practices" by correlating a center's activities to its stated mission and goals and how well its activities helped in achieving those goals. The entire effort spanned nearly five months. This report is a comprehensive document that summarizes the data, the findings, and our conclusions.

8.2.2 Acknowledgments
The Student Leadership Councils of the following ERCs participated in developing these best practice guidelines by responding to the survey. Their cooperation is gratefully acknowledged. (In the case of multi-institution centers, denoted by *, the lead university is noted.)

Engineering Research Center for Particle Science and Technology
University of Florida
*Georgia Tech/Emory Center for Engineering of Living Tissues
Georgia Institute of Technology
*ERC for Computer-Integrated Surgical Systems and Technologies
Johns Hopkins University
ERC for Computational Field Simulation
(The Center graduated from the ERC Program in 2001, and is now known as the Mississippi State University Engineering Research Center)
Mississippi State University
*VaNTH ERC for Bioengineering Educational Technologies
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Biotechnology Process Engineering Center (BPEC)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
*Center for Wireless Integrated MicroSystems (WIMS)
University of Michigan
Center for Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems (RMS)
University of Michigan
Center for Neuromorphic Systems Engineering (CNSE)
California Institute of Technology
*Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center (PEER)
California Institute of Technology
Packaging Research Center
Georgia Institute of Technology

In addition, the authors of this study are grateful to Courtland Lewis, NSF consultant, for his constant encouragement and valuable advice. The authors would also like to thank Tracey Patterson, ERC/RMS Education Coordinator, for her unflinching support during this entire effort.

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