CEE Student Organizations

ASCE Student Chapter

American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) at UofL is a recognized student organization (RSO), administered and operated by the students majoring in Civil Engineering. The chapter holds officer elections each spring or fall term for officers serving the current academic year (Fall & Spring terms). The chapter provides a way for Civil Engineering students to meet one another, learn about professional engineering events, participate in regional and national student events, learn about the profession of Civil Engineering and the transition from being an engineering student into an engineer entering professional practice.

The UofL ASCE student chapter has been recognized as the Outstanding Student Chapter Award by the Kentucky Section of ASCE several times.

The ASCE student chapter maintains its official status through the University of Louisville Student Government Association as a Recognized Student Organization (RSO).

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) chapter is affiliated with the local chapter of Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) primarily through contact with the Louisville District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) where civilian engineers support U.S. government engineering projects in the US and globally where the US maintains a presence.

Membership in ASCE is open to all engineering students at U of L interested in civil engineering. National membership is completely free of charge (asce.org) for students – and the student chapter charges a small member fee each semester to cover meeting costs.

Fund-raising activities are organized for more significant programs such as ASCE student leadership and professional development conferences, annual ASCE Ohio Valley Student Conference regional meeting (includes national competitions for  concrete canoe, land surveying, geotechnical, site layout design, technical paper, balsa wood bridge, and concrete frisbee, concrete baseball bat).

Elected chapter officers work on chapter administration and focus on maintaining and building chapter activities.  The officer and membership work includes: chapter administration and maintenance of records for national, state, and local standing, member recruitment and retention, participating in existing community service projects such as affiliation with the local ASCE professional chapter outreach in math and science education such as through the MATHCOUNTS program, participation in the annual ASCE Ohio Valley Student Conference (OVSC) regional meeting (April), and attending the annual ASCE national student leadership development conference (January).

If you have interest in Civil Engineering or want to learn what Civil Engineering is about – I welcome you to contact me, or stop by the ASCE student lounge in WS Speed Building lower level (WS004), or drop in an ASCE student chapter meeting to find out more and check the ASCE.org web national organization information.

Chi Epsilon – The National Civil Engineering Honor Society

The University of Louisville’s Chapter of Chi Epsilon (XE) is part of the National Chi Epsilon Civil Engineering Honor Society (chi-epsilon.org). The XE organization is a non-profit founded in 1922 at University of Illinois to promote recognition of outstanding civil engineering students.

Chi Epsilon has 137 active chapters at universities across the United States, is widely recognized in the profession, and has initiated over 114,000 members.

Students and professionals are selected to become members based on recognition of their scholarship, character, practicality and sociability, considered by Chi Epsilon to be the four primary traits of a successful engineer.

The prestigious honor of membership is only offered to those with an academic rank in the top third of their class and holding at least sophomore-level status in their degree program. Obtaining XE membership is a recognized stamp of academic excellence in the Civil Engineering profession.

Being a member of University of Louisville Chi Epsilon Chapter, you can become involved in chapter leadership and operation, participate in Chi Epsilon opportunities for scholarships, networking, service, and outreach – or simply accept the recognition of your achievement as being a member of XE. There is no activity requirement beyond participating in the initiation ceremony to become an official member.

In alternating years, 2 members are selected to attend the National XE conference meeting held at a University campus (2018: University of Texas Arlington, TX; 2016: Northeastern University, Boston, MA).

Membership in the Chi Epsilon Honors Society is by invitation only and only requires a one-time lifetime membership join/initiation fee – the membership is only open to students and cannot be offered once a student has graduated from the program. An official ceremony is held on campus in the Fall and/or Spring to initiate new members into XE.

We congratulate the outstanding academic achievement of the XE student members at the University of Louisville.
Chi Epsilon is organized exclusively for academic and charitable purposes. The academic and charitable purposes include activities that provide co-curricular educational activities and providing scholarships and other awards.

The mission of Chi Epsilon is to achieve its vision through its four pillars:

  • Scholarship – recognizing excellence and achievement in academic and professional endeavors
  • Character – upholding the integrity and responsibility of the civil engineering profession through our service
  • Practicality – educating and encouraging our members to improve our world through innovative and impactful solutions
  • Sociability – connecting our members while engaging the broader [engineering] community