I  attended the first in-person annual SGB (SIG Governing Board) meeting since before the pandemic, and the SIGUCCS Executive Committee met for two whole days to discuss various topics related to the SIG.

Some updates from the SGB include an overview of the state of ACM Special Interest Groups provided by the president of ACM, as well as information from ACM about Open ACM (their new publishing program), ACM Financials and SIG Overhead, and the services provided by ACM to the SIGS.

From the ACM president’s presentation, it was interesting to see that some of the issues that we see in our SIG are also common in other special interest groups, including declining membership and lack of volunteers. The president of ACM also talked about looking for ways to reach younger professionals and diverse populations, and how to use different modalities to perform different conference functions (presentation, publication, and interaction were the terms he used to describe the benefits of conferences).

The second most interesting thing to come from the SGB meeting was the information about Open ACM – their new publishing program. In 2020 they announced that all content would be open access starting in 2026. Since then, they have been working to create a program (Open ACM, see https://libraries.acm.org/subscriptions-access/acmopen) that will go into effect January 1, 2026. This program could impact the future of publishing papers as part of the SIGUCCS conference, so you should be aware of this program.

Turning to SIGUCCS business, the board was able to view the location for the 2024 conference and discuss logistics for our meeting in April.  We are excited to be returning to Chicago at the other end of the Magnificent Mile. Within walking distance of the Westin where we spent the 2023 conference, the Embassy Suites location opens up a new set of opportunities for exploring dining and attractions at the end of the day. The hotel also offers breakfast every day and a reception every evening. The meeting spaces are perfect for our small conference and presentation information will soon be available for review. We think you will be excited to attend!

We also began to review sites for the 2025 conference. No news yet. But we have some prospects.

Another topic of discussion was the Affinity Groups that were begun after the last conference and their viability. While attendance at these is not large, and it is sometimes difficult to decide on topics, we feel that these are a valuable opportunity to reconnect and stay engaged between conferences. We plan to continue these meetings but we need your help.

ACTION ITEMS:

If YOU have ideas for a short presentation (10-15 minutes) that can be part of the Affinity Groups sessions, where you provide your expertise, followed by a discussion and conversation with your colleagues, please reach out to Miranda to schedule something! We’d love to showcase your expertise in this safe environment.

If YOU have ideas for a topic you would like to attend, please reach out to Miranda with that topic idea. We want to make these sessions something that is helpful and useful to you.

Lisa Brown (she/her)
ACM SIGUCCS Chair
http://siguccs.org

In late summer, the executive committee asked the ACM SGB (SIG Governing Board) and the SIGUCCS Community to allow the current board to extend their positions for another term of three years. This passed approvals and the executive committee is happy to continue our journey through June 2026. This will allow this group of individuals to host the 2023 conference, begin planning a 2024 conference, and work through the SIG Viability review that will happen in December 2023 without an interruption or disruption to the team. It will also allow us to begin to put into place some plans now for expanding appointed positions on the board to assist with all of these future plans.

In looking at a 2024 conference, the board is beginning to solicit proposals for a location for another in-person conference in the spring of 2024 and hopes to have the location and dates available at our 2023 conference.

And speaking of appointed positions, the 2023 awards cycle will be the last term for Kathy Fletcher and her management of the Communication Awards.  Becky Johnson has agreed to take on this role for the next award cycle. Becky has been an active Communication Award nominee and winner so she is perfect for taking over. We also want to thank Kathy for six years of service in this position. She has done an excellent job!

Lisa Brown
Chair, SIGUCCS Executive Committee

• Conference Chair: Laurie Fox
• Program Co-Chairs: Miranda Carney-Morris and Shawn Plummer
• Treasurer: Parrish Nnambi

As a result, the Executive Committee just completed its site visit for the 2023 conference and we are extremely excited to be planning this for you. The hotel is located in a great part of the city, with access to many restaurants, retail stores, and experiences. We are pleased to announce that the conference will be held at the Westin Hotel, Michigan Avenue located just north of Water Tower Plaza. The board has spent the last couple of days exploring the hotel spaces as well as the surrounding area.  We’ve also spent time on program planning and we think we have some great ideas for March. Watch for announcements as these ideas become more solid!

In addition to being a site visit, this was also the first in-person board meeting for this group since they took office in July 2020. Being in-person and having a full day conversation, which often extended into dinner, was such a treat. It reminded us of the reasons we love the in-person SIGUCCS conference. Networking and building relationships is what makes the SIGUCCS conference so valuable.

One of the main topics of conversation for our board meeting was long-term viability. With almost 3 years since our last conference, we are worried about disengagement. While the idea of an in-person conference in a few months might be keeping you engaged, it might not be enough for everyone. We will be continuing with monthly events online to provide both opportunities for social engagement as well as technical connections.

Stay tuned. This get-together has got us pumped up. We hope to bring some of that same enthusiasm to you over the next eight months in preparation for the conference!

Lisa Brown
Chair, SIGUCCS Executive Committee

It was with great sadness that we decided to move the 2022 conference in San Diego to a virtual event. With the pandemic continuing, and travel budgets at institutions in a state of flux, we decided that while some might be able to attend in person, that it would be better for the overall health of the community to be inclusive and do another virtual event. Additionally, we wanted to be respectful of the conference planning committee and make sure that they had enough time to plan a well-run virtual conference. We are taking what we learned from the 2021 conference and doing that work now! Watch for announcements in the coming weeks on schedule, sessions, and other activities.

Regarding San Diego, while this was a location that we were excited about visiting, we were no longer able to extend our contract with the hotel. Instead we were able to negotiate a cancellation fee that was under the contractual amount in order to serve the SIG as best we could. This was not done easily and it was disappointing to spend money and get nothing in return, but we also couldn’t see hosting a conference for only a small number of attendees.

Thinking ahead now to 2023, the board is concerned about how to proceed. We began looking at sites, but without a clear sense of how the pandemic will shift and whether or not institutional budgets will bounce back, we struggle with signing another hotel contract. We want to hear from you! And we want to hear from you sooner rather than later.

Our next board meeting is February 14. Put on your favorite red shirt or hat for Valentine’s Day and join us to provide us with your thoughts about how we proceed. We WANT to have a conference, but not if it means YOU cannot attend. Do you feel that your institutions will shift away from sponsoring travel and in-person conferences in the future? Is your institution seeing virtual conferences as a permanent and positive shift? If a virtual conference is what you NEED in order to stay connected, we want to make it happen and make sure that it is the best conference we can plan.

Join us for our next board meeting. Monday, February 14 at 2pm EST (1pm Central, 12noon, Mountain, 11am Pacific) and bring your ideas for how we can engage with each other, realize the very positive  benefits of this organization, and continue to build community while not being able to gather in person. Register today!

We’d to hear from you.

~ Lisa Brown, SIGUCCS Chair

ACM Senior Member Award

It is with great pleasure that we announce that Laurie Fox, past chair of SIGUCCS, was honored as an ACM Senior Member this past month. This award recognizes Laurie’s dedication to both SIGUCCS and ACM over the years. For those not aware, in addition to serving on the SIGUCCS executive committee, Laurie has been on the SIG Governing Board of ACM and holds the position of New SIG Advisor.

Keeping an Eye on the 2022 Conference

At this point in time, we are still planning an in-person conference in March 2022 in San Diego. At the same time, we are keeping an eye on the public health situation and making contingency plans if the situation should worsen or change dramatically.

We have received enough proposals to run a healthy program and presenters will be notified soon about next steps in the process.

We are in need of some volunteers for track chairs and readers. Contact the Program Chair, Beth Lynn Nolan, at blnolan@iu.edu if you are interested in helping out!

Looking forward to 2023

We are beginning to plan for the 2023 conference. This will be the 50^th annual conference for SIGUCCS! We look forward to hosting this great event and sharing even more information as planning gets underway.

Hangouts and Seminars

July began the continuation of our monthly hangouts and we had great attendance for a discussion around Return to Campus, and what that meant for everyone. It was great to gain perspective on how each campus is treating the fall semester and helped solidify ideas about a return to campus. In August we had a hangout discussing self-care as we start to feel the stress of back-to-school in an uncertain situation. Look for more information about upcoming webinars and hangouts coming soon.

Awards and Grants

Every year SIGUCCS looks for nominations for its annual awards for the Hall of Fame and the Penny Crane Awards. These awards are very important to the organization. If you know someone that has provided service to the organization and helped it grow, be sure to nominate them. The nomination process is open until November 1 for both of these awards and more information is available at https://siguccs.org/wp/participate/siguccs-awards/

We also recognize that information technology organizations would not be successful without good communication strategies. Because of this, we honor institutions that do outstanding work in this area. Submissions for communications awards are open until mid-October and can be made at https://siguccs.hosting.acm.org/wp/?page_id=406

Lastly, SIGUCCS is always welcoming new members. If you are looking to attend SIGUCCS and your institution has not sent anyone in a while, you might be eligible for an attendance / participation grant. The grant covers hotel costs and registration. The second round of attendance grants will be awarded in the Fall. Learn more at https://siguccs.org/wp/attend/conference-attendance-grants/

~ Lisa Brown, SIGUCCS Executive Committee Chair

2021 Conference

The 2021 virtual conference took place in March and April and consisted of a number of great presentation sessions and social gatherings. With just over 300 unique attendees and session attendance up to 143, the topics seemed to be a big hit among attendees. Each session consisted of multiple short pre-recorded presentations and attendees could ask questions in the chat during the recording. Additionally, at the end of the session, attendees could interact live with the presenters.  Despite being a virtual conference, everyone was quite pleased with the format and opportunity to interact!

2022 Conference

Despite the success of the 2021 virtual conference, we are happy to announce that in March of 2022 we will be hosting a live, in-person conference again. Plan to join us in San Diego at the end of March. Mark your calendar now, and start your budgeting process.

Also, the Call of Proposals is open now and available at https://siguccs.org/Conference/2022/call-for-proposals/

We look forward to hearing what you have to offer!

Hangouts and Seminars

Following a short hiatus from the excitement of the 2021 conference, we will begin hosting monthly events again in July which will consist of either formal presentations with Q&A or hangouts on relevant topics. Final planning for the first few events is in the works. Look for emails on SIGUCCS-L coming your way soon.

Awards and Grants

Every year SIGUCCS looks for nominations for its annual awards for the Hall of Fame and the Penny Crane Awards. These awards are very important to the organization. If you know someone that has provided service to the organization and helped it grow, be sure to nominate them. The nomination process is open now for both of these awards and more information is available at https://siguccs.org/wp/participate/siguccs-awards/

We also recognize that information technology organizations would not be successful without good communication strategies. Because of this, we honor institutions that do outstanding work in this area. Submissions for communications awards are open and can be made at https://siguccs.hosting.acm.org/wp/?page_id=406

Lastly, SIGUCCS is always welcoming new members. If you are looking to attend SIGUCCS and your institution has not sent anyone in a while, you might be eligible for an attendance / participation grant. The grant covers hotel costs and registration. Learn more at https://siguccs.org/wp/attend/conference-attendance-grants/

~ Lisa Brown

2021Conference

Preconference seminars have been announced and a full schedule for our conference seminar series will be published soon. The program will consist of both presentations and social activities spread out over 6 weeks. I hope you will plan to join us for some or all of these great events. Check out the conference information here.

Hangouts

Since September we have initiated a hangout in Zoom every month. For one hour SIGUCCS friends gather, just to gather. We have had conversations about the current remote work situation, how classes are going, funny and scary support stories… whatever people want to discuss. We plan to continue this over the coming year in order to remain connected. We invite you to join us. The next hangout is themed “New Beginnings” and will be held on January 21 at 3pm Eastern – Mark your calendar now and register here to get the Zoom link.

Awards

On behalf of the Awards Committee, the Executive Committee is proud to announce the new inductees into the SIGUCCS Hall of Fame. Please join me in congratulating the following: Mathew Felthousen, Chester Andrews, Dan Herrick, Rebekah Lineberry, and Chris King. Read more about these extraordinary SIGUCCS members.

We would also like to congratulate all of the winners of the Communication Awards. It is always exciting to see how other universities are sharing information with their constituents. The winning entries are recognized on our website.  Additionally, there were 48 submissions from 18 different institutions this year and we would like to thank everyone that submitted! We hope that the feedback that you received was helpful for your future work.

~ Lisa Brown

2020 2021Conference

As conference planning for March 2021 continued, the public health situation with COVID-19 showed signs of worsening. The board had another major decision to make. The decision to go virtual for 2021 did not come easily. We understand how much the success of our conference relies on networking and being together in person. We also understand that trying to attend virtual events while working a regular day will not be stress-free or uninterrupted. That being said, we want to acknowledge the people that have put work into presentations and give them a chance to be published in 2021. Planning for this virtual event is underway and we hope that you can join us!

Community

In order to maintain the community that is SIGUCCS, we have initiated a series of hangouts. These occur monthly, and we started in September. The topic in September was remote work and its advantages and disadvantages. In October, we went with a Halloween theme and shared Scary Support Stories. Each time we have had a great group of SIGUCCS friends join us. We’ll have another in November and again in December and we hope more of you will join us for those!

Webinars/Seminars

Another way that we are planning to keep SIGUCCS together is through a seminar series, starting in November. Register now for the November 10 topic: Life Beyond the Lab. This session will feature short presentations about topics associated with moving from worker bee to manager and include time for questions and discussion. (https://siguccs.org/wp/seminar-series/)

Awards

There is still time to nominate a SIGUCCS colleague for a Penny Crane or Hall of Fame award for 2021. Visit https://siguccs.org/wp/participate/siguccs-awards/ to learn more or make a nomination. The nomination period ends December 1.

Mentoring

Finally, our mentoring program will be starting up again in January, so if you are interested, take a look at our site to learn more (https://siguccs.org/wp/learn/mentoring-program/). We are looking for both mentors and mentees to join the program that will run January 2021 – November 2021.  Applications are open now!

~ Lisa Brown

You all continue to inspire me, working hard to ensure your campuses are running smoothly while changing your own work environment. If you have not yet joined the Slack discussions in our workspace, I encourage you to Join our SIGUCCS Slack Team. We are sharing our successes and even a few laughs!

Recently, you participated in a survey where the EC asked “If the SIGUCCS conference was held in Spring, how would that impact your future attendance?” I’m including the results of that question, and you can clearly see that the timing of our conference makes a difference. After careful consideration, the SIGUCCS Annual Conference is moving to the spring for the 2021-2022 academic year.

SIGUCCS is hosting our first Virtual Conference on April 22, 2020. We have been planning the content for a few months, and I hope you are able to participate. There is a $50 registration cost per campus — you can share the sign in with other members on your campus.

The Executive Committee is getting together with our 2020 Conference leadership soon to discuss options for the ACM SIGUCCS 2020 Annual Conference. It’s hard to predict what travel restrictions may be in place in November; we are planning and preparing to make a decision about our event in the next few weeks.

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! And wash your hands.

~ Laurie Fox

As we look back on our 2019 accomplishments, there are many things to celebrate in our SIGUCCS Community. I am also looking forward to things to come in the next year, including elections for a new Executive Committee and the SIGUCCS 2020 Annual Conference in beautiful San Diego California!

Here are our SIGUCCS accomplishments for 2019:

• Nearly 250 of us gathered in New Orleans for the SIGUCCS 2019 Conference. We enjoyed thought-provoking plenary speakers, engaging sessions, informative posters, and plenty of time to network with old and new friends. Be sure to join us next year!
• SIGUCCS completed ACM’s viability review process. Our results were favorable: The SGB EC congratulates SIGUCCS on its  program performance and finds it viable to continue its status for the next 4 years. SIGUCCS should be commended for their active online community.
• We celebrated our newest Penny Crane Award for Distinguished Service recipient, Kelly Wainright, at the 2019 conference in New Orleans.
• The Book Club wrapped up its first year, completing 10 books! You can see the 2020 selections on our web page.
• The SIGUCCS 2020 Conference core committee met together in San Diego to begin planning our next conference. They will be sharing more information with us soon!
• The SIGUCCS Mentoring Advisory Board is in the process of matching mentors and mentees for the 2020 cohort.
• Our election slate for 2020 has been submitted to ACM. The slate will be shared with SIGUCCS members soon, and there will be an opportunity for further nominations. Elections occur in late spring.
• Allan Chen is starting to put together our 2020 Webinar Series. If you have an idea for a webinar, please contact him directly.

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