BCLA / CLA Student Chapter
Meeting Minutes
July 05, 2004
4:30 – 5:45 P.M.
 
Present: Camille Callison, Heather de Forest, Tara Matsuzaki, Hope Power, Christine Wallace
Regrets: Paula Farrar, Janine Jevne
 
1. BCLA/CLA conference reports
 
Camille, Tara, Heather, and Janine attended this conference in Victoria from June 16th – 19th. Camille reported that she attended several very successful sessions. Tara reported that she was able to informally recruit a few mentors for this year’s program. Heather reported that several chapter members were able to meet at the conference. 
 
2. Chapter name
 
Tara clarified that the name of our chapter is “BCLA/CLA” (or “BCLA & CLA”) – not “CLA/BCLA”
 
3.  Meeting structure
 
a)  Rotating chairs
 
For future meetings, we agreed to adopt a rotating chair system. Tara served as chair at today’s meeting. Hope will serve as chair at our next meeting (to be held sometime within the next 2-3 weeks). She will follow up with chapter members to schedule a date and time. Any agenda items should be forwarded to Paula.
 
b)  Regular meeting dates
 
We will attempt to establish a regular meeting schedule in the fall.
 
4. Upcoming events
 
a)  CLA information session 
 
Janine reported (via e-mail) that she “dropped our info sheet to Madeleine Lefebvre, the (at that time) president of CLA. She was very happy to have an up-to-date list of contacts and will give it to the appropriate CLA contact. We are to decide when we want to host a CLA Info session (probably Sept.) and let them know. SLAIS will then be added to their touring agenda.” The group agreed that we should try to schedule this session as a lunch-hour event sometime in late September/early October. Janine will follow up with Madeleine to arrange a date and time. Camille will look into our budget for gifts/honorariums for speakers and refreshments for attendees. We agreed that some extra refreshments could be provided “potluck-style” by us. Hope will look into the possibility of inviting a BCLA representative to speak at this event.
 
b)  ALPS information session
 
Janine reported (via e-mail) that Suzanne Ottewell has contacted her to see if we wish to host an information session on ALPS and academic librarianship. Suzanne suggested that she could organize a panel to speak about these issues in mid-October. We agreed that this would work well as a lunch-hour event. Hope will follow up with Suzanne to schedule a date and time.
 
c)  BCLA/CLA presentation to core students
 
The group agreed to try to schedule a brief presentation about our chapter to core students during their LIBR 560 class in the first week of September. Heather will look into arranging a date and time for this presentation. 
 
5. Cooperation with other student groups
 
Christine noted that the distinctions between the roles and responsibilities of BCLA/CLA, LASSA, and SLA are not always clear. Tara suggested that we clarify our understanding of our chapter’s mandate. After some discussion, we agreed that we generally work to forge links between the two professional organizations and the SLAIS student body. In addition, we provide students with opportunities for professional development through our mentorship program, tours, and other events. 
 
In order to avoid programming conflicts with LASSA and SLA, Christine suggested that the CLA and BCLA representatives regularly liaise with representatives from the other student groups. Hope and Janine will follow up.
 
6.  Website
 
Christine announced plans to design a new website for our student chapter. This project could be completed by the end of December. The structure and content of this site will be designed in consultation with other chapter members. Christine has already developed several ideas for a new logo. These ideas will be sent out for feedback sometime within the next few weeks.  She also suggested that links to other student chapters and career-related resources could be valuable additions to this site.
 
Christine also reported that our contact information on the current website has been updated. In addition, she noted that the structure of this site could be simplified. The information on our mentorship page is particularly in need of revision. Christine will also pass on the information on last semester’s GAA event to the LASSA webmaster.
 
7. Tours
 
Heather reported that possible tour locations were brainstormed at our last meeting. She suggested that a trip to the Seattle Public Library (and possibly the University of Washington Library as well) could serve as our “flagship” tour. Camille noted that either the winter or reading breaks would be the most convenient times for this tour. Christine suggested that this tour could also be an opportunity to liaise with the University of Washington’s ALA student chapter. The group agreed that reciprocal tours and/or other events (for example, a presentation by ALA representatives on employment opportunities in the United States) would be very positive initiatives. Heather will follow up on contacting the ALA student chapter.
 
8. Mentorship
 
Tara reported that she has reviewed the mentorship program’s information binder and database. She found that a number of students who expressed interest in the program last year still need to be matched with mentors. She will first follow up with these students via e-mail. Then, she will send out general e-mails about the program to the SLAIS, BCLA, and list servs. Other possible ways of raising awareness include a bulletin board at SLAIS and a pub night in the fall. Tara also noted that the electronic application forms currently posted on our website are functioning properly.
 
Tara reported that there has been strong interest in this program in the past. Accordingly, she is planning to recruit a couple of volunteers to form a “mentorship team.” Hope will follow up with a couple of students who have recently expressed interest in volunteering with our chapter.
 
9. Future initiatives
 
 a) Links with other student chapters 
 
Christine suggested that pub nights and other events could be organized in cooperation with LASSA and SLA. The group expressed interest in meeting with representatives from the other student chapters to discuss programming plans for next year. Hope and Janine will follow up.
 
b)  Grants
 
Camille will look into what kind of grants or other funding opportunities might be available to our chapter this year. 
 
c)  BCLA/CLA bulletin board
 
Tara will follow up on the possibility of setting up a bulletin board for our chapter at SLAIS.
 
d)  Liaise with archival group
 
Heather reported that an archival student chapter has recently been formed. Hope will follow up on contacting this group.