LISSA Elections

It is time for LISSA elections. This year, voting will be done through the SLIS Village. If you want to vote, but are not yet a member of the Village, email Jennifer.LaFleur@unt.edu to sign up.

To vote for the next President and Vice President, send the name of the candidates you would like to vote for to Jennifer LaFleur in an email within the SLIS Village. Please submit your votes by 5 pm on Monday, May 3rd. Here are the candidates:

President

Staci Young - I would like to serve as LISSA President, because I believe in the potential of the LISSA organization. I would like to develop programs to give us all more opportunities for professional development, professional networking, leadership, service and fundraising, all of which are facets of Librarianship that are imperative for careers as information professionals. I believe with the best resources, which UNT offers, the LIS student body will become the information leaders of Texas and potentially the US. I am the best candidate to lead LIS students in this direction.

Will Senn - I am a PhD student in the Information Science program. I earned my Masters in Library and Information Science at UNT in 2009. I have previously served as the SLIS SGA Senator and I am currently the College of Information's Alumni representative on the University Library committee. I would like to have the honor and opportunity to lead this successful organization in the coming year.

Vice President

Jaeger Wells - Hello, I am Jaeger Wells and I am currently in my first semester here at UNT in the SLIS program. I am running for the position of Vice President because I am a firm believer that at the heart of an academic department, there needs to be a strong student organization supporting the students interests. I believe that I could help make LISSA an even better organization than it is by doing more marketing as well as making students more aware of the resources available from LISSA. I am qualified for the position of Vice President because I have many years experience promoting and bringing people together as well as leading organizations. During my undergraduate career I was on the Executive board for the University of Southern Maine's chapter of Phi Kappa Sigma; running business meetings, setting up fundraising, as well as setting up philanthropic outings. As a small business owner, I ran On The Rocks Productions based out of Portland, Maine, organizing, promoting, and booking local all ages rock shows around the Southern Maine area. One of my biggest accomplishments was putting together a 2 day music festival featuring local, regional, and national acts; drawing a ground of over 200 people each day. I am able to communicate quite effectively with a variety of different people. I think my diverse background would help serve the LISSA community in fresh new ways.

Amber Bookman – I am a first year graduate student in the SLIS program and pursuing the school librarianship track. I received my B.A. in Literary Studies from the University of Texas at Dallas in 2003. Following graduation I worked at several law firms in the Houston area with the intent of attending law school and pursuing a legal career. A couple of years after working in the field, I determined that my true interest was in teaching. I relocated back to the DFW area in Fall 2009 and began my MLS in the Spring. I begin the alternative teaching certification program this summer with the hope of securing a K-6 teaching position in the Fall. I currently volunteer at the Lewisville Public Library and am an Administrative Consultant to Angela Fraser Realty. For fun I enjoy reading, cooking, watching HGTV or the Travel Network, spending time outdoors, visiting with my husband, our pets, friends and family and meeting new and interesting people. I am excited about the strength and diversity of the individuals I have met thus far in the LIS program. LISSA is an opportunity for fellowship among all LIS students since we all share the same goal, to go forth and manage the information frontier! I hope to become an active contributor to the organization and encourage others to do the same.

And congratulations to our new Secretary/Treasurer and Members at Large, who are running unopposed:

Secretary/Treasurer

Angel Durr - My name is Angel Durr and I have been to most of the LISSA events throughout the year. I have experience being a treasurer as I was treasurer of the Texas State University College Democrats for a year. I really want to get more involved on campus and I think becoming an officer in LISSA would be the perfect way to do that. This is my second semester in the SLIS program and my field of study is law librarianship. I plan on graduating next May (if all goes well!). I am 22 and I am from Austin, Texas. I am very responsible and I was very involved in my undergraduate career with such activites as student government, student organizations, and an internship. Therefore, time management is no issue for me. I really hope next year we can plan some great events to draw some of our fellow LISSA students out of the woodwork, which I know can be somewhat difficult because of the nature of our program. However, I am up for the challenge!

Members at Large

Howard Marks - As an active member of both ALA and TLA, I would very much like to serve as a LISSA officer. I am a dedicated, passionate library and information science graduate student at the University of North Texas who strongly feels libraries are the key to learning both on a local and global basis for people of all ages. My recent work experience was serving two months at the Fort Worth Public Library as a temp reference librarian helping patrons. After ten plus years as a professional advertising and marketing copywriter crafting words to reshape the present, my dream is to enable others to learn from words of the past to become part of a promising future. I plan on graduating in December 2010. I have been active as a volunteer in organizations in the past, including Newsletter Chairperson of the Gulfport-Biloxi Advertising Club and as a Big Brother for Big Brothers/Big Sisters of North Texas. I currently help out to serve meals for the homeless at the Bridge in downtown Dallas on occasion.

Stephanie Boring - I am originally from Houston and attended Stephen F. Austin State University in East Texas for my undergraduate degree (Child Development and Family Studies - nothing like Library and Information Science!). I worked in the private sector for about 7 years and realized my passion for library science quite recently. I have now completed 18 hours of my masters and desire to pursue a career in preservation upon graduation. In my college sorority I was an officer and truly enjoyed the experience and the first-hand understanding of the group which accompanies these positions. I would love to serve in a similar capacity with LISSA.

LISSA Officer Elections - Call for Nominations

LISSA officer elections are coming up. Five positions are available: President, Vice-President, Secretary/Treasurer, and 2 Member-at-Large positions. This is a great opportunity for anyone looking to develop leadership skills, become more involved in UNT's Library and Information Science program, and network with students, faculty, and professionals in the field. If you are interested in running, please e-mail the following information to untlissa@gmail.com by noon on Friday, April 23rd: name, position for which you are running, and a paragraph about yourself.

Here is a description of each position and its responsibilities:

President:
The President of the Association shall preside over the meetings of the Association, both general assemblies and the meetings of the Executive Committee. The President shall be responsible for all communications to officers, the general membership, the Dean, the faculty, and the staff regarding Association meetings, assemblies, activities, and other pertinent information regarding the Association. The President shall act as the official liaison between the Association and the Dean, faculty, and staff of the School of Library and Information Sciences, the University of North Texas (UNT) Student Association, and the UNT campus and administration. The President shall appoint chairs for Association committees. The President shall also attend Faculty/Student Council or will designate a representative to serve in his/her place.

Vice-President:
The Vice-President shall assist the President in the performance of that position and shall serve in that position in the event that the President is absent. The Vice-President shall have primary responsibility for programming Association functions. The Vice-President shall also be responsible for the upkeep of the Association bulletin board.

Secretary/Treasurer:
The Secretary/Treasurer shall be responsible for the recording of minutes at all meetings of the Association. The Secretary/Treasurer shall be responsible for the distribution of the minutes to all members of the Association. Financial responsibilities include the conducting of any financial transaction and accounting which is conducted by the Association and the reporting of such activity.

Member-at-Large:
Members-at-Large shall be responsible for chairing committees as appointed by the President. The Members-at-Large shall also be responsible for assisting the Vice-President with the programming for Association functions. In addition, one Member-at-Large will be responsible for the distribution of information regarding the American Library Association (ALA) (convention information, scholarships, etc.) and one Member-at-Large will be responsible for the distribution of information regarding the Texas Library Association (TLA)(convention information, scholarships, etc.)