What’s the LASSA executive been up to this year? Read the Comments section to see mini reports from each member of the executive.
What’s the LASSA executive been up to this year? Read the Comments section to see mini reports from each member of the executive.
PEP (Peer Evaluation Program) Coordinator Duties
Carolyn Petrie and Jennifer Baetz
Participate and attend LASSA monthly meetings.
Check suggestion box in TEF lounge and report any suggestions at the next LASSA meeting.
Meet with Susie to discuss the survey for the upcoming year and decide when the survey will begin (we have decided to analyze the results by the time we graduate in May, so the bulk of the work will not begin until March/April).
We will have to look at the survey instrument last year and suggest and implement any revisions for the new survey.
Compile a letter to Edie requesting funding for the purchase of the survey software.
The survey usually runs for 2 weeks, and in the time before the survey begins we will be responsible for advertising the survey to students (posters, email on the listserv, cover letters for the survey on the desktops in the computer lab).
While the survey is running we will have to decide what types of reports we would like to output after the data is collected.
Susie is responsible for running the reports.
Final task is to analyze the results and prepare a list of recommendations for faculty.
NOTE: the bulk of the work for this position is in the last couple months of the term, other than attending LASSA monthly meetings (only last one hour).
Please contact Carolyn or I if you have any questions regarding the position.
Thank-you.
As LASSA’s representatives on the GSS Council, we participated, not only in the monthly council meetings, but also in a wide range of GSS activities.
Two to the council representatives attended the annual GSS Council Retreat,
held in August, at Whistler.
A work opportunity was set up at the GSS offices for a SLAIS student in
order to develop a records management system
LASSA councilors sat on the following committees:
GSS COMMITTEES
Retreat Planning Committee
Programs Committee
Departmental Resources Committee
Privacy Policy Committee
UBC COMMITTEES
Housing Advisory Committee
Faculty of Graduate Studies Council
GSS reps also volunteered for GSS events such as the UBC-wide Graduate
Orientation in September and the Halloween party.
We facilitated communication regarding GSS events by posting posters, disseminating emails and providing reports to the LASSA executive.
In addition to participation in GSS activities, we were also active participants is many LASSA initiatives
Student Orientations:
• Helped organize the menu and purchase the food for the September Orientation.
• Updated the Student Handbook to include current information.
Hello out there! Since I have participated in two LASSA positions within the last year, I will outline the role I performed in each one.
Events Coordinator
I was an events coordinator for LASSA until October of 2005. Being in this position provided me with a great opportunity to meet a huge amount of people that I would not otherwise have met and to get out there and have fun!
Becuase there were no events during the summer, I really wanted to use the extra time to meet reps from the other student groups at SLAIS. I organized a meeting in June where we discussed how we could coordinate our events for the following year. This meeting resulted in a comprehensive events calendar representative of all SLAIS student groups, and also resulted in the coming together of student groups to plan a job fair. The summer also included, along with the rest of the LASSA exec, the task of organizing the September orientation, which involved a lunch for the entire school.
Events that took place during the Fall Semester were a pub night, a grant writing workshop, a UBC Day of the Longboat race, and Christmas and welcoming potlucks. These events were aimed at providing students with both academic and social activities to enhance their educational experience at SLAIS.
MLIS Co-President
In October I took on the position of Co-president, a position which has enabled me to gain valuable leadership experience.
Duties that I have undertaken in this position include leading LASSA’s monthly meetings (in turn with the MAS Co-President), representing students on the SLAIS Leadership Committee, which is in the process of devising a comprehensive communications plan for the school; finding students willing to participate in other SLAIS committees, preparing a student contact list, helping to organize a director’s forum where students can voice their concerns to the Director of the school, helping to plan the January orientation, and helping to plan the AGM.
Although these positions have been challenging, they have also given me many skills that will be of great use to me in my future career and also a say in the future direction of this school. I strongly encourage your participation in this association.
Hey Folks,
As the Faculty of Arts Rep for LASSA, I have been attending Faculty of Arts meetings, Arts ISIT Committee meetings, and Faculty of Arts Library Advisory Committee meetings on behalf of SLAIS students. It has been a great way to keep on top of all of the new things happening on campus as well as to learn about how a large academic institution functions.
For any students interested in filling this position next year, it is a fun position with not a great deal of time commitment. Meetings are interesting, relevant and often have food!
I’m Wendy, and as the LASSA WEB MASTER, I’m responsible for maintaining the LASSA website. This past year, I’ve:
* Created the new LASSA Blog for posting announcements and business.
* Posted announcements and business on the blog.
* Posted meeting minutes on the LASSA website
* Tried to keep the rest of the site reasonably up-to-date, mounting new documents and information on the site as needed.
* Attended LASSA meetings
Me and the other web master are working on the year-end newsletter, which will come out at the end of the term.
MACL Year in Review
With students hard at work in SLAIS, English, Education, Language and Literacy Education, and Creative Writing, the MACL program is a busy one! This year students have enjoyed conferences, kid lit opportunities in libraries and schools, involvement in book awards and events, and still look forward to Serendipity, the Vancouver Children’s Literature Roundtable yearly celebration with distinguished authors and publishers (February 25th, Scarfe Building UBC 9:00-4:00 – contact Ron Job at (604) 822-5233 for more information, or go to http://www.library.ubc.ca/edlib/table/events/events.htm). Six outstanding thesis have been defended this year, examining topics ranging from popular tween girl novels, print resources in child care centres, Canadian themes emerging in rare and historical Canadian children’s books, and feminist re-reading of Elizabeth Goudge’s novels for children. Two creative writing thesis, Fishtailing: A Young Adult Novel and Crowgirl’s Amazing Adventure Scrapbook: A Graphic Novel were also defended to great acclaim. With all of this wonderful activity around kids’ books, who wonders why MACL students
are loathe to graduate?
Secretary/Treasurer Year In Review
As the Secretary/Treasurer, I am responsible for all the financial work for LASSA, as well as the meeting minutes and other secretarial type duties.
This year I attended all except one of the LASSA meetings, took the minutes, typed them up and sent them out to the LASSA list.
I submitted the executive list to the AMS.
I worked with the Secretary/Treasurer from last year to submit the LASSA budget to the AMS.
I have prepared the proposed budget for 2006/07, which will be presented for approval at the AGM, as well as writing up the proposed constitutional amendments and the statement of office that are also to be approved at the AGM.
I went over the finances, submitted receipts, made sure people were reimbursed, and kept an eye on how we were doing financially.
Hello everyone. I’m Bill, the Other Web Master, and I am working on LASSA’s year-in-review newsletter that will be available via the LASSA website. The newsletter will provide a summary of all those fun and informative LASSA events and, perhaps more importantly, a listing of LASSA work on students’ behalf. Look for the LASSA year in review newsletter coming soon!
Hi folks!
I recently became a part of the LASSA executive this January as the MLIS member-at-large. I decided this would be another great way to meet people who did not start with me in my intake – September 2005. I have attended two executive meetings and discovered how important this student group is as liason with SLAIS faculty and staff as well as other student organizations on campus. I look forward to seeing you all at the AGM.
Rachel Vyse
MAS Member at Large
As MAS Member at Large, I have been a representative to all of the MAS students, which involved being visible and available for archival students in both 1st and 2nd year. I have tried to get to know the 1st year students through my involvement in the ACA student chapter as events coordinator, as well as being there to listen, support and encourage students.
Another aspect of this position is organizing and taking the photos of the incoming students during both orientations in September and January. This position does not require a lot of time commitment, but it does call for the desire and dedication to build relationships between the 1st and 2nd archival students.
Hi everyone,
I have been a LASSA co-Events Coordinator since October, 2005. I am responsible for organizing various events, some of which are intended to give students a fun break from their studies, while others are aimed at enhancing their academic and professional lives. Since October, I have helped organize a Grant Writing Workshop, two pub nights, and two potlucks. A student research panel, in which students will be able to present their current research, is in the works for March. All in all, it’s a fun position to hold and a great way to meet a lot of new people.