ALISS Minutes - May 15, 2000

ALISS Minutes - 5/15/2000 Open Meeting

Attendance: Jennifer Gartin, Kristin Dermody, Andy Bates, Lisa Spagnolo; Chantal Fabre, Grace Whiteaker, Joanna Luchinske, Anne Turner, Elizabeth Harper

Agenda:
1. Jen's Announcements (MGH space, MS Outlook for Student Organizations)
2. Officers' Reports
3. Drinking Water
4. Spring Fling
5. Project Network
6. Convocation
7. Student Representative Openings
8. 2000-01 Courses
9. Open Discussion

Discussion:

1. Jen's Announcements (J. Gartin): Jen spoke with Scott Schramke about space in Mary Gates Hall for student organizations. They assured her that we will have a similar space. Also, Scott will assist with setting up Outlook for student organizations to manage email, calendars and tasks.

2. Officers' Reports (Present Officers): Officers provided updates on tasks completed since the last meeting of May 1, 2000.

Andy: The remaining invoices for water were paid, leaving us with a balance of $850. (See below for further discussion of drinking water).
Jen: An email message was sent to Raya Fidel, our faculty adviser. A meeting with officers will be set up in the near future, probably after courses are over. Jen also asked Dolores Potter about incoming students (approx. 110) to assess distribution of the revived Silverfish newsletter. Lastly, Jen sent out an email message to assess the continuing services of committee members (see below for further discussion).
Kristin: An email message was sent to the "webmaster" about the possibility of giving student organizations slightly better placement on SLIS's web page. There is now a shortcut to Student Groups on the School's home page.
Lisa: The reservation with Physical Plant for Spring Fling in Sylvan Grove was made. An email message was also sent to Zoe Holbrooks regarding the Alumni Association's pledge of $125 towards Spring Fling. Jen has since been in regular correspondence with the Alumni Association on this subject.

3. Drinking Water (A. Bates): Andy reported on the status of drinking water, given the low returns from the booksale and the period of higher than normal water consumption during the warm spell earlier this quarter. Discontinuing water service for the rest of the quarter was considered, given our priorities for funding the Spring Fling. Financial support from other sources, including SLIS and corporate sponsors, offsets our need to sacrifice water service. Andy anticipates the costs to be $80-90 for delivery 2 times a month. It was mentioned that we may not need water service once we move into Mary Gates Hall. Students offered various comments, including a higher need for hot water and that some students would be willing to pay for water (i.e. through a membership system). It was determined that one more round of water would be ordered to carry us to the end of the quarter. Water may not be provided for the summer months.

4. Spring Fling (all): The suggestion from the Student Leaders meeting of working to get corporate sponsorship for the Spring Fling was discussed. Possible leads include database vendors, textbook publishers, .coms, Barnes & Noble, etc. A short list will be distributed to the officers to send out a preparatory email and to follow up with a phone call. A figure of $500 should be suggested initially, with a subsequent figure of $250. Kristin and the volunteers committee will work on promotion of the event with emails and poster design.

5. Project Network - Alumni Association (raised by J. Gartin): Jen shared the status of Project Network, the mentoring system between current students and mentors administered by the Alumni Association. There have been some communication problems, especially with not hearing from designated mentors. Students present expressed experience with "email tag" or signing up and never receiving a name. Jen suggested one or two membership drives for this project rather than open availability to sign up all year long. It was mentioned that this program is not necessarily for employment leads but primarily to get familiar with the field. As a side note it was mentioned that ALISS needs a representative for the Alumni Association.

6. Convocation (all): Student volunteers are needed to help with Convocation (June 9). In addition, ALISS will recruit two committee members for the 21st Century Award to be given at Convocation. A notice will be put on the bulletin board to help recruit volunteers.

7. Student Representative Openings (J. Gartin): Jen reported on the status of openings for student representatives. Of the current representatives, only Tamara Pesik is available to continue on the Curriculum Committee, in addition to our continuing GPSS Representative, Pam Green. Betsy Harper mentioned that she had spoken with Jessica Schomberg about filling her spot on the Admissions Committee. ALISS will look into the procedures for this transfer. There are open positions for Alumni Association Representative, DISC, Evening Degree Representative, Webdeity (filled for the moment by Kristin, Pam and Lisa), Silverfish Editor(s) and staff, and Hospitality Committee Representatives. It was decided that a list of descriptions of duties and estimated time commitments would be prepared at the next meeting so that students have a better idea of what is involved in serving. It was mentioned that Colette Davis, this past year's representative for the Evening Program, had recommended Chantal Fabre for the position.

At this point, the meeting was opened to general discussion to cover 2000-01 and other topics.
8. 2000-01 Courses: Jen introduced the topic of 2000-01 courses in order to get feedback on students' needs and concerns. The following comments were made:

More 1-credit classes are needed to round out a 9-unit schedule to maintain full-time status.
More variety for evening students. Legal Research was one offering that was mentioned in particular. It was suggested that Legal Research might also be offered in the summer to allow flexibility in adding these courses to one's schedule. Electives for second-year students seems to be limited because of the focus on the new core curriculum.
General concern was voiced over the possibility/rumor of cutting 533/535 (Scripting and Programming) from the regular curriculum. Perhaps they could be tailored to include information architecture, or be focused on the content of our domain. To do these through the certificate program in the summer, students face the challenge of additional tuition costs. Plus, it is hard to effectively learn the material in a 2-week course. A full quarter allows the student to better implement the learned material. Not only are these courses full, but students are encouraged to have these tools. There was some concern over the mixed message of encouragement and then cutting the classes. It was mentioned that for those wanting to take on management roles it was important to be familiar with what the IT group is doing.
Summer offerings are meager. It was suggested that more developed summer offerings would better support the Evening Degree Program, the students of which often desire to continue through the summer to complete the degree. An extensive summer curriculum would also aid those who are trying to compress their time-to-degree.
More advance notice of 598s. More 598s.
Concern over spreading thin with the addition of the B.S. and Ph.D. programs, as well as anticipation as to how the new programs would change the nature/feel of the program for MLIS. It was noted that the growth would bring opportunities such as TA-ships as well as raise the bar of research.
Times of evening classes, especially those going to 9pm, can present physical difficulties relating to attentiveness. This is especially acute in Winter Quarter. A cut-off point of 8 or 8:30 was suggested.

The suggestion was made to survey the student body on courses in a systematic way, shooting for an 80% rate of return so that the majority of the students are represented. Jen mentioned that the last survey of this type was administered when SLIS was still in Suzzallo. This would allow a gauging of change over the last couple of years as well as determine what has not changed among student expectations.

We also mentioned how these comments would be distributed. It was determined that they would be communicated through the minutes, as well as be passed along to the Curriculum Committee.

9. Open Discussion, continued (all): The remaining topics were covered during the open discussion:

The desire to have a copy machine nearby in Mary Gates Hall. Kristin offered to attend the May 17 Technology Meeting as the official ALISS representative to investigate this possibility.
Jen raised the topic of group work. Comments ranged the spectrum of being "used to it by now," and "thriving on it" to the difficulty of coordinating meetings because of busy schedules and the rare "throttle syndrome." It was acknowledged that it is often possible to accomplish more working in a group. A suggestion was made for a better system of accountability than the "tattle" alternative. One grade for all results in disparities between credit and effort. A system would allow for better judging of group dynamics. It was noted that one class project requires a list or narrative of how you split up the work and a description of the collaboration. This option was well-received. Another alternative was a self-evaluation of grading the individual and then grading the group. The option of working solo was also mentioned and it was noted that this flexibility might be useful for those in the evening degree program, some of whom are working 40 hours a week. It was acknowledged that projects' flexibility between group and solo work might also be helpful for day students.

We closed by determining that although names would be listed in the minutes of Open Meetings, the comments made during the open discussion would be kept anonymous except for action items by officers.

Respectfully submitted,
Lisa Spagnolo
ALISS Secretary

Prepared May 20, 2000.