I have been nominated for both the Executive Chair and the Member-at-Large positions on the executive committee for the soon-to-be-named graduate student association in the department of Informatics.

As a nominee I’ve been asked to publicly say why what I want for the organization.

Here’s the Twitter/SMS version:
We have a unique chance with the remaking of AGIS to make INFO a better place for everyone especially all the grad students, let’s grab it!

Here’s the short version:

What do I hope to achieve through my service on the executive committee?
I believe that the actions, tone, and proper organization of the graduate student association will set a precedent, and will bring a new level of transparency of information, service, and connectedness to current, past, and future students with each other, the school, and the larger communities we practice in. As a friend said, whoever is executive chair needs to really make it their “thing.” I am making it “my thing” no matter what position of service you choose to have me in.

About me:
I’m a second year MSc student in HCI/D who is applying to PhD programs, including here at IU, for next year. My main research interests are the theory & philosophy of all the following (as well as their implied design & critique methodologies in those fields):Technology, HCI, Design, Games, Serious Games. I’ve been married for a little over 5 years now to my wonderful wife Vanessa who is a mom/opera singer. We have 2 young boys, Ezra & Micah (2yrs & 3 mos). If I had any spare time I would spend it playing WoW or Wii Sports, notice the IF at the beginning of the sentence.

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Here’s the extra long stuff:

Why do I care at all?
As a first year student and someone who was returning to school after a break, I didn’t know how things worked. I didn’t understand (and still don’t completely) how an academic school/department is structured, who controls what, what the committees are, who I vitally needed to get to know and talk to in the administration and staff. All I knew was that I could ask a Linda. Now there is only one Linda and we have Rachel, and for all you new students, you should already know and love these two fine ladies. They will help you any way they can. Often though, it is very helpful to understand what else is going on. I think that our association can bring a lot more transparency to how the school works, who’s in charge of what, and who you need to talk to, including alumni, and other students who have already been down the road you are now starting on.

Why am I accepting nominations for both Ex-Chair and Member at Large?
Put very simply I am passionate about making grad students’ lives better, and having our interests represented more fairly in the school and in the IU community at large. I enjoy the democratic way of doing things, and I respect that process, but given the fact I may not win one or the other I am keeping my hat in the ring for both positions so that I am almost certainly going to be able to be involved in a very meaningful way.

The long version: I want to make some kind of lasting impact on the school for good. There is a possibility that I will not return here for my PhD, and if that is the case then I need to do that now. What I want to do the most on the executive committee is to make our organization impactful and long-lasting. There was an organization that was in place a few years ago. Our program was smaller then, and the organization was less formal and organized. Unfortunately the officers last year of the organization chose not to, probably through omission while being busy on the job hunt, plan for the continuity of the organization. This has left us with nothing. We are not registered with IU as an official organization, we have very little if any representation to the school and it’s various committees. The large growth in our grad program started with my class has led to less communication and socializing between the programs, we need to change this. We need to have well developed programs to help prepare us for our future careers. We are in a unique position in a unique school, and that means we have a slightly different set of things to deal with when we go looking for jobs and to publish our research.

What will I do if I win both positions?
If there is no runner-up for the at-large position I would probably nominate a first year student, someone who can take the feeling of participation and community and power that will come with our organization this year into a future year or years. The cohesion and power of our association depends on everyone feeling like they have a say, and that their interests and concerns are represented, I would nominate someone who I think can do those kinds of things for all of the programs in our department