Library and Archival Studies Student Association
2013-2014 School Year Meeting #5
Date: November 4, 2013
Time:12:00-13:00
Location: SUB 212
In attendance:
Grace Romund (MLIS Co-President)
Kate Clayborne (Secretary)
Sheena Campbell (Events Coordinator)
Mitchell Meler (GSS Representative)
Inti Dewey (GSS Representative)
Maria Paraschos (MAS Member-at-Large)
Matthew Murray (Webmaster)
Helen Halbert (AMS Representative)
Jordan Hatt (Treasurer)
Tracy Leung (Faculty of Arts Representative)
Adena Brons (Dual Member-at-Large)
Nicole Askin
Regrets (Excused):
Stephanie Dror (MACL Member-at-Large)
Michael Wynne (MLIS Member-at-Large
Sehdeep Kaur (MLIS First Year Rep)
Absent:
____________________________________________________________
Meeting called to order by Grace at 12:03 PM.
1. Approval of Minutes
A. Adena’s name was moved to the “Regrets” list.
B. A link to the AMS outreach website was added.
C. It was noted that Helen has sent out an Eventbrite invitation for the NCSU session.
D. Kate caught a few typos upon rereading; they have been corrected.
Approval moved by Adena, seconded by Inti. Motion passes.
2. Halloween Party Debrief
A. The party has been met with positive reviews and deemed a successful effort for community
engagement.
B. No official attendance numbers were taken, but based on a casual head-count at least 60 people
were present.
C. The alcohol budget was exceeded, but other expenses were kept low enough that the event as a
whole came in under-budget.
D. Sheena:
a. The party will hopefully become an annual tradition. Decorations have been saved,
which will cut future costs.
b.Prizes are yet to be distributed from costume & trivia contests. This will be done in the
near future.
3. LASSA Executive Positions
A. Faculty of Arts Rep
a. We are seeking a replacement for this position, as Tracy will be moving to Calgary
for her co-op in January.
b. Grace nominates Sehdeep Kaur. All in favour, none opposed. Sehdeep will become
Faculty of Arts Rep.
B. MLIS First Year Rep
a.Sehdeep will be stepping down as First Year Rep as by credit count she is no longer a
First Year.
b.Adena nominates Nicole Askin. All in favour, none opposed. Nicole will become
MLIS First Year Rep.
C. Events Coordinator
a.Sheena Gardner has inquired into re-joining LASSA as Events Co-Coordinator.
Sheena Campbell would welcome the assistance. Voting did not occur at this meeting.
4. Upcoming Events
A. NCSU Info Session (Helen)
a.The session is taking place this Thursday, November 7, at 11:30 AM in the Trail
Room. RSVP numbers have gone up since last meeting.
b.Helen is budgeting $120 for food & beverages. As SLAIS has offered to cover
catering for the event, she will speak with Dan about funding.
c.The event is for MLIS or Dual students graduating between Sept ’13 and August ’14,
but other students are welcome to attend the info session.
B. January Orientation
a. Orientation will be held Monday, January 6, 2014, from 12-1:30 PM.
b. Sheena has booked Thea’s Lounge for this time.
c. Grace will purchase pizza & pop as usual.
d. Grace will send a reminder email to the LASSA exec and execs of student sub-groups
asking for volunteers.
C. End of Term Potluck
a.The potluck will be held November 29, 5-7 PM, in the SLAIS Lounge.
b.The SLAIS office has volunteered to obtain the liquor license.
c.Melissa Nightingale and Sheena Gardner have their Serving-It-Right certificates.
5. Communication Issues
A. The listserv used as a direct line of communication between SLAIS and the student body was
disbanded by request of the previous LASSA exec, as per the wishes of students at the time.
a.The plan was for students to regularly look at the SLAIS Blog/Connect Portal for
important SLAIS news.
B. Student opinion on the matter seems to have shifted with new cohorts.
a.The Connect Portal can be difficult to find, and can be impossible to use during
Connect’s frequent downtime.
b.The most recent cohort was not made aware of the importance of the Blog/Portal as an
info source.
C. The LASSA email list is currently the best line of communication to the student body.
a.This list is opt-in and only reaches a small portion of SLAIS students.
D. Possible Solutions:
a.A stronger push for new students to sign up for the LASSA list, particularly at the
January Orientation. The list will be brought directly to new students, rather than
waiting for them to sign up at the same time they do for sub-group lists.
b.Direct communication from SLAIS
i. Students may be more open to receiving emails from SLAIS administration if
they are kept to announcements about SLAIS itself, such as policy changes,
rather than about jobs or events. This would keep the amount of emails from
becoming overwhelming.
E. For now, if students would like to bring issues to SLAIS, they should contact Melissa
Nightingale (slais.program@ubc.ca).
F. LASSA recommends that SLAIS send an email to the student body at large letting them know
of Melissa’s position.
6. Other Business
A. Finance Request (Jordan)
a.ALPS has requested a $74 reimbursement for their Getting Hired in Higher Education
panel, held last week.
i. Last year LASSA provided $94 in funding for the panel.
ii. According to the LASSA Policy & Procedure Manual, sub-groups must apply
for funding and give a presentation at a LASSA meeting. The application will
then be voted on.
iii. The exec will give ALPS the opportunity to make a retroactive presentation at
the next meeting. Jordan will email the ALPS reps to inform them of this
decision.
B. PEP Survey
a.The formation of a committee will be discussed at the next meeting, so that work on
the survey can commence with the beginning of Winter Term II.
Meeting was adjourned by Grace at 12:55 PM.