What's Going on at IMSA - February 2009

Hey everyone,

While we're planning for an awesome conference this year, I think it'd be a good idea to keep the communication flowing between our student governments - know what each of us is up to, working on, and having trouble with.

With that being said, here's some of the stuff that has been keeping IMSA's StudCo busy:

- Clash of the Halls: This is one of Student Council's biggest annual events, and marks one of the most fun-filled weeks of the entire school year. During March 2nd-6th, our seven residential halls compete with musical acts, athletic feats, and spirited fervor to demonstrate their pride.

- Prospective Student Shadowing Program: Our academic committee has worked hard to implement a program in which prospective IMSA students can spend a night at the academy and 'shadow' a current student around for the day. So far, the program has run pretty flawlessly.

- Extended Weekend Internet Shutoff Times - Our technology subcommittee recently managed to extend our weekend internet shutoff time from 1AM to 3AM, and this has been one of the most well-received things we've done this semester.

Bike Rental Program - Student Council is working on starting a system by which students could sign out rental bicycles to go to nearby locations and have a good time with.C

College and Career Forums - Student Council has been working in conjunction with the Illinois Alumni Association to bring professionals from various fields - medicine, business, technology, etc - and discuss what it was like to go into their respective fields after being an IMSA student, and answer questions about what a particular career path is like.

College Guide - Academic Committee is in the process of compiling a completely student-written "College Guide" that details a lot of the tips and intricacies involved in applying to college as an IMSA student. This should be made available to the student body in the near future.

Club Catalog - Club Committee is currently creating a "Club Catalog" - so to speak - of all the various Student Council-chartered clubs on campus. Such a catalog would be tremendously useful in determining which clubs a student might want to join as well as what actually goes on at club meetings.

Keep the rest of us updated on whats going on with your respective Student Governments!

-Sid

Moneyyyy

Ladies and Gentlemen, do not forget to remind your advisors to pay IMSA for ACSG expenses. Our Student Council is in a bit of a money crunch, and we really need the cash before you guys head out for the summer. Hope you're all doing well!

Sid

The Goings-On of IMSA

Well howdy, fellow ACSG-ers. I miss you all so much!

I figured its about time we started using this blog. We talked a lot, during our conference, about the importance of communication, and through this blog we can really keep in touch with whats going on with our respective Student Governments.

And with that, I thought I'd give you guys the breakdown of what's going on here at IMSA...

• Transfer of Power and Setting Up for Next Year- A couple of weeks before the conference, we had elections for our '08-'09 Executive Board. Mamatha Challa is our new President, with Cati Crawford as our Vice-President, Deedee Sun as Secretary, Myself as Treasurer, Seth Pree as Senior-at-Large and Michael Mirski as Junior-at-large. For those that don't remember, the "at-large" positions effectively serve as the "voice" of a particular class on executive board, and we will also have two sophomores-at-large that will be elected at the begenning of next year. We're looking into the feasibility of having a Summer Retreat for about a week, where we'd work on teambuilding, really defining ourselves as an organization, and setting goals for ourselves.
  
• Co-Chair Applications - Our student government has four main standing committees, namely Academic, Residential Life, Communications, and Club. Each committee has one or two "chairs" that really run the committee over the course of the year. These chairs really define a lot of what Student Council gets done, and as such, we consider this applicaction process to be fairly important. Interviews for these positions will be happening over the course of this week.
• Class Club Elections - Each year, Student Council members are responsible for the election of Class Club officers. Class Club is an organizational entity that exists separate from Student Council, and who does various fundraising activities to raise money for Senior Prom.
  
• Faculty/Staff Appreciation Day - This upcoming Monday, May 5, IMSA celebrates a faculty/staff appreciation day. We're working with our Parents Association Council to get some funding for cheesecake and cookies and whatnot, and will be decorating the Faculty Cafe to try and help IMSA adults know we care =D.
• Bathroom Minutes - Every couple of weeks, our Communications committee puts together a single sheet of paper detailing some of the things Student Council has done and is working on, and puts them up in bathroom stalls. We're currently working on creating a new set, and also working with IMSA's maintenance department to expand the number of locations in which these can be put up. Given the fact that one of our main prolems as an organization is visibility, Bathroom Minutes are one of the best ways we feel we can let students know what we're doing.
  
• College Guide - Our academic Committee is working on a "College Guide" that would detail some tips and tricks regarding the college application process, as well as some of the unique things that affect IMSA students. This guide will be published before the end of the year and promises to be a strong resource for future IMSA students.
• End-of-the-Year Picnic - We're currently working with our food service provider, Sodexo, on an end of the year picnic to be held the Friday before finals week. While this picnic has been an annual IMSA tradition, this is the first year that Student Council has gotten involved with the planning process, and we're working to customize the menu, set up volleyball, soccer, football, and volleyball, and have some live music going.

Chime in and let us know what going on with your Student Governments!

ACSG Constitution

Here is the constitution as amended at the 2008 ACSG Conference at IMSA. Please email kimballk@ncssm.edu with any questions.