December 2, 2004 -- 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.,
IS Building, First Floor Conference Room

In attendance : Denise Callihan (President), Barbara Zaborowski (President Elect), Kimberly Gregory (Secretary), Andrew Falk (SIS Liaison), Jeanann Croft, Mike Dellinger, Dorothy Spudic, Jean Petrisek, Earl Mounts, Christine McIntosh, Amy Broestl, Maria Harrington, Karen Grunebach, Nancy Alstadt and Marnie Hampton

Prior to calling the meeting to order, SAS President Denise Callihan welcomed everyone and provided a brief introduction to the School of Information Sciences Alumni Society and its recent resurrection. She thanked everyone for attending the meeting, and expressed hope that they will be encouraged to participate in future events. Everyone then briefly introduced themselves to the group in attendance.

Andrew Falk, SIS Liaison, provided a folder of information for the attendees which included a print-out of the front page from the School of Information Science website and a print-out of a page about one of this years Legacy Laureates, Hilda Pang Fu; geographical statistics about SIS Alumni and statistical information about the School of Information Science Alumni in comparison to other University of Pittsburgh Schools; a print-out of the Project Summary of A Curriculum for Security Assured Information Systems which was a result of a grant from National Science Foundation Federal Cyber Service Scholarship for Service and finally, a hand out about the concept for an “I-Festival”, which is an event that would highlight the three major academic areas of SIS; namely telecommunication, information sciences and library sciences.

Call to Order: Denise Callihan brought the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.

• Minutes from the September 30, 2004 were handed out for review. SAS President Denise Callihan made one clarification about the SAS presidential term. Denise’s term will expire in June 2005 at which point Barb Zaborowski will move from president elect into presidency. Kimberly Gregory remains in the secretary position for two years, or until June 2006. Elections will take place for the vacancies each year.
  
  
• Discussion centered on two past events that SAS participated in. The first was Pathways to Professions on October 21, 2004. Denise Callihan and Barb Zaborowski were both present as SIS Alumni providing students with information from working professionals. This was a networking social event and Denise commented she felt the event was a success. The second event was participation at the Pitt Homecoming football game. Denise Callihan, Barb Zaborowski and Kim Gregory participated in the pre-game Alumni tent activities prior to the game. SIS t-shirts and SIS CD holders were handed out to all who provided some basic information. SIS also showed off its Virtual Cave (VISCAVE) for all to enjoy.
  
  
• Denise Callihan then explained to the group the importance of participating in banner qualifying activities so that SAS can maintain its banner status within the Alumni Association. The two events mentioned above will count towards this achievement.

Event Planning

• Discussion continued with upcoming SAS events. The first one discussed is the idea of a career day/professional development day to be held at SIS in the spring 2005. Resume writing, cover letters, career paths, job hunting, networking, filling out applications, Act clearances, and mock interviewing are some of the topics discussed for this event. Barb Zaborowski solicited ideas from the group about the format, discussing a 2-part, 2-day event. Day 1 would consist of workshops that interested students would need to sign up for in advance. Day 2 would consist of actual mock interviewing to be held at the William Pitt student union. Details such as dates and sequence of events need to be worked out and finalized. LS would be the pilot program. Can extend to IS and Telecom next year since these constitute different criteria. There was also a suggestion to open the event up to recent SIS grads . Based on a meeting Barb held 10/28/04 with Andrew Falk and Tricia they arrived at the following configuration for the two day event (some changes were made based on discussion on 12/2/04):
  
  

  Professional Development Day:
  1.)    Workshops on presentation and interviewing skills
  2.)    Resume et. al (includes resume review, difference between resumes and vitae, cover letters, and application forms)
  3.)    Job searching (includes networking, alternative careers for LIS, and professional organizations)
  
  These sessions would run from 10:00-12:00 and then 1:00-3:00. Each session would be 45 minutes in length with a short break in between. There will be a lunch break from 12:00 to 1:00 (lunch on your own). Beta Phi Mu will provide morning and afternoon breaks. The same sessions will be offered during both time slots.
  
  Mock Interview Day:
  1.)    Mock Interview Day will be held in Career Services at the Student Union.
  2.)    Students will register to participate in mock interviews based on their field of study (i.e. academic, public, special (law, medicine), school, or archive)
  3.)    Where the situation calls (i.e. academic) students will be interviewed by a panel and required to do a brief library instruction presentation. (Students will receive the lesson plan when they register.)
  4.)    Interviews will be conducted by LIS Alumni.

  Based on a meeting of the SAS Alumni on 12/2/04 the following was determined:

  1) After consulting the academic calendar the two consecutive Saturday's for Professional Development Day and the Mock Interviews would be April 2nd and 9th. Saturdays were selected because it would increase the likelihood of alumni being able to participate without needing to take time off from work.

  2) In order to attract alumni to the event the Society will be using on of its alumni-wide emails to ask for volunteers.

  3) All students will need to register in advance for both the Professional Development Day and the Mock Interview Day. A brochure and signs announcing the event will be available in late February for distribution.

  4) Based on the success of the LIS Professional Development Day, the Society would like to offer a similar opportunity to IS students in the fall.

• The second major event discussed is a book fair/festival with a target date no sooner than the spring of 2006. Barb Zaborowski proposed such an idea at one of SAS’s spring 2004 meetings. The event would consist of author appearances for book signings, booths from local and perhaps national vendors, kids’ events, display of VISCAVE, etc. The vision for this “I” (Information) Fest is to grow to a regional event. Nothing like this happens in this area and the possibilities are numerous. Vendors discussed were Nintendo, Google, EBay, Pixar, Amazon.com, etc. The sky is the limit!
  
  
• Next steps for this event: Barb Zaborowski and Andrew Falk to meet with the Special Events department of the University of Pittsburgh; identify potential sponsors; determine the money issue like how much to charge vendors, etc.
  
  
• Discussion of socials and informal get-togethers was again brought up. This was discussed in our September 30, 2004 meeting as a way of getting alumni together and interested in becoming part of SAS. These events can eventually become a “benefit event” down the road. Hosting an event in another area was considered, perhaps in a city such as Cleveland, or some other local area with SIS graduates. Dave & Busters was again brought up as a possible venue; Pirate home opener. Our hope with these events is to reconnect with one another.
  
  
• Denise mentioned to the group the Recruitment Initiative at SIS with the hiring of Terry Kizina full time to work on diversity, which is an issue. IS and Telecom are focuses. LIS enrollments are at an all time high; IS and Telecom enrollments are lower than in past years

New Business:

• Denise addresses the attendees and thanks them once again. Call for questions. January 20, 2005 is next meeting and will be advertised in the SIS link newsletter. No new business is brought to the table.

• Meeting adjourned: 7:45 pm.