ACE IT SIG Annual Report 2005

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Special Interest Group Spring 2005

Name of SIG: Information Technology
Mission Statement: The Information Technology Special Interest Group (IT SIG) provides a means for communicators and technologists to share information internationally on current and emerging technologies with an emphasis on productivity, service, technical education, and the intelligent and appropriate use of these computer-based technologies for education and information dissemination.

Officers (current year):

    Chair: 	Ann Bugler, Iowa State University
    Vice-Chair:	Beth Raney, Penn State University
    Vice-Chair Elect:	Gary Kepka, Kansas State University

Officers (next year):

    Chair: 	Beth Raney, Penn State University
    Vice-Chair:	Gary Kepka, Kansas State University
    Vice-Chair Elect:	Ray Kimsey, North Carolina State

Did the SIG present an Award of Excellence this year? Yes. A call (via email) for nominations for the Award of Excellence this year yielded one name: Ron Thomas of the University of Florida. Ron was selected because of his consistent contributions and leadership in ACE and the IT SIG. He was chosen by a unanimous vote of the three officers.

What were your goals for the year (from your strategic plan)? The IT SIG did not complete a Strategic Plan for this year. Some goals suggested at the 2004 annual meeting include:

• Involve graduate students more in ACE activities
• Find themes for future conferences
• All SIGs overlap in some way—combine funds & professional development $ for SIG ‘super’ workshop: pulling experts in every area
• Provide service sessions for other SIGs
  • Technology purchasing issues
  • Online professional development opportunities
  • Online classes—perhaps join with other SIGs to present
  • Focus on a few major issues
• Establish SIG discussion web boards

What successes did you have in reaching those goals? What barriers kept you from achieving the goals? One issue raised at the 2004 annual meeting was the feeling of uneven representation of NETC members during joint ACE/NETC meetings. This year, NETC participants may feel they had more say in the planning of the 2005 conference since Pete Flores (non-ACE, strong NETC) was a co-chair, and Beth Raney (liaison to NETC Steering committee and ACE IT SIG vice-chair) were on the program committee for the conference. Also proposals for breakout sessions were reviewed by both ACE and NETC members. If there were or are barriers to completing any of our goals, they might include a lack of time and flexibility. Most SIG members work full-time and can’t take time out of their day to work on SIG business and/or respond to email requests—either because they are too busy, or because it is not necessarily work-related.

Did you use the funds provided by the ACE board? If so, please describe how the money was used and how it benefited all SIG members. The funds provided by the ACE board were not used.

What can the board do to help SIG leaders in their responsibilities and to make SIGs more effective? One issue that was raised at the 2004 conference was the issue of representation when there is a joint conference with ACE and NETC. The NETC participants would like better representation at the annual conferences (someone suggested it should be ½ instead of 1/12). It was also suggested that ACE business tends to eat into potential breakout session time. The NETC participants want to feel more included and have more say in the proceedings. These suggestions might improve response rates and general participation.

Submitted by Ann Bugler, 2004-2005 IT SIG chair