April 2019 – Updates from the Chair

April showers are here, and I know the May flowers are coming because my allergies are in full swing! This week, I purchased my flights for the SIGUCCS 2019 Annual Conference and made my hotel reservations. The first draft of our conference papers is due soon – we will be together in NOLA before you know it!

The Executive Committee (EC) has been springing forward on many activities as well.

  • Saving and archiving outdated web information. In particular, we are archiving old conference websites (https://siguccs.org/wp/attend/past-conferences/). They will be removed at the end of May, and while the EC is saving the data it will not be available on our website.
  • Dan Herrick and I attended the spring SGB meeting in Chicago. (See our previous article: https://siguccs.org/wp/2019/04/siguccs-leaders-attend-acm-meeting/)
    • One of the most notable takeaways from the meeting was SIGACCESS’s Accessible Conference Guide. If you are interested in this topic, please contact a member of the EC!
  • Several SIGUCCS Committees are active this time of year, most noticeably our Awards Committees. Nominate a colleague or a communication project at https://siguccs.org/wp/participate/siguccs-awards/
  • SIGUCCS 2020 site selection and leadership planning are underway. We are pulling together the details for our 2020 annual conference. If you would like to participate, please contact a member of the EC.
pizza
Lou Malnatis pizza … my Chicago favorite. photo by Laurie Fox

Along the lines of accessibility at conferences, I recently read an article on the Chronicle of Higher Education’s Website entitled “A Note From Your Colleagues With Hearing Loss: Just Use A Microphone Already“. In December 2018, I was diagnosed with mild hearing loss. While it’s not to the point where I must wear hearing aids, I have been listening more carefully in all aspects of my daily life. I have also been speaking up when I cannot hear clearly. I’m committing to using a microphone whenever I speak at SIGUCCS 2019, and I hope you will too!

If you are interested in reading the details of our activity in the Executive Committee’s meeting minutes, they are posted online: Executive Committee Meeting Minutes. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions or suggestions – or would like to volunteer your talents and experience with us for SIGUCCS!

~ Laurie Fox


About SIGUCCS Editor

The Special Interest Group on University and College Computing Services (SIGUCCS) is an association of professionals who support and manage the diverse aspects of information technology services at higher education institutions. SIGUCCS is one of 36 special interest groups of ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, the world's largest educational and scientific computing society. SIGUCCS focuses on issues surrounding the support, delivery, and management of those services, and provides professional development opportunities for its members and the other individuals in the field.