LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE

"Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other." - John F. Kennedy


Throughout my time at the iSchool, I had the opportunity to serve as a leader in numerous capacities. Through each leadership position, I learned more and more, about myself, my peers, and most importantly, how to foster open dialogue, cooperation, and collaboration to engage and encourage people in effecting positive change. Each leadership experience taught me effective means of oral and written communication to peers, colleagues, and staff and faculty. In addition to honing my communication skills, serving as a leader of numerous groups taught me facilitation skills, management techniques, and collaboration-building exercises that will no doubt serve me throughout all of my professional endeavors. Some examples of my leadership experience, as well as activities and projects conducted while serving as a leader, are highlighted below. In addition to these experiences, I also served on numerous committees, such as the Research Committee, Diversity Committee, and the iSchool Centennial Committee.


Association of Library and Information Science Students (ALISS) Co-President

As Co-President of ALISS, I shared various leadership responsibilities with my colleague, Stephanie Earls. By sharing responsibilities, we were able to work more effectively, take on more projects, and strategically communicate with both our peers and the iSchool staff and faculty. This allowed us to recognize each of our strengths, and utilize them most effectively by splitting up responsibilities. Some of my activities and responsibilities as Co-President included:
  • Calling monthly officer meetings; setting the meeting agenda; facilitating the meeting to stay on task and on time
  • Holding regular briefings with appropriate iSchool staff and faculty to address student concerns about registration, class offerings, the MLIS program in general, and more
  • Speaking to the incoming cohort of students about getting involved in research, student groups, internships, and general tips of ensuring success at the iSchool
  • Organizing and running the student group leadership elections for the 2010-2011 academic year for ALISS, as well as all other student groups except for ASIS+T
  • Handling internal (ALISS) disputes and concerns, as well as concerns of the student body as a whole
  • Serving as a touchstone for students to come to with ideas, concerns, and general questions about the MLIS program and student group activities
  • Presenting activities of student groups at quarterly all iSchool meetings
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Co-Presidents: Stephanie Earls and Melody Clark at 2009 iBall


iWorld Co-Chair

Just as with serving as a Co-President in ALISS, serving as a Co-Chair for iWorld allowed my colleague, Rachel Scott, and I to focus on our strengths. While iWorld was not as time-consuming as ALISS, it still allowed for my leadership capabilities to flourish in numerous ways, such as:
  • Calling monthly officer meetings; setting the meeting agenda; facilitating the meeting to stay on task and on time
  • Encouraging my fellow officers to come up with innovative ideas for iWorld to pursue in terms of activities, website content, and more
  • Overseeing the group's annual and event budgets; finding additional funding as necessary for events and activities
  • Organizing, promoting, and facilitating numerous events, including a very well-attended panel on International Careers in Information Science, which can be heard in a podcast intended to reach distance students here
  • Engaging the new cohort and the student body to get involved with iWorld and share their ideas
  • Serving as a touchstone for those students with questions about international careers and activities in information science, international development and information science, and more
  • Disseminating events of interest, news articles, activities, funding opportunities, travel opportunities, and classes of interest to the iWorld listserv
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Facilitating iWorld Career Panel


Student Leadership Council Member

In addition to the above-mentioned leadership activities, I was also able to serve as a member on the Student Leadership Council, working closely with leaders from other iSchool student groups (IUGA, AIMS, and DSA), the Dean of the iSchool, and other staff and faculty to discuss funding requests from other student groups, review changes to the iSchool operating budget, and editing the Charter of the Student Leadership Council.