LPH Minutes 9/08/03

Meeting Minutes

9.8.03 MINUTES

I. WELCOME
President Raymond Swanson welcomed all new and old members back for the semester.

II. INTRODUCTIONS
After welcoming everyone in attendance, Ray introduced the new officers for the fall semester. Luke Andersen, a Senior graduating in December 2003, is the Treasurer. Luke is currently working on his fourth major, and he was in a national television commercial for MCI. Kathryn Seamans, a Senior graduating in May 2004, is the Secretary. She is currently working on her Professional Writing Certificate as well, and she is a Chicago Bears fan. Megan Gaca, also a Senior graduating in December 2003, is the Vice President. She completed an internship planning the Spring Student Celebration, and says she loves Nascar. Last, but certainly not least, Ray Swanson is the President of LPH, Gamma Pi Chapter. He is a Senior graduating in December 2003 with a Graphic Arts Minor to go along with his Communication Major. He also loves to play hockey in his free time.

III. FEES, ETC.
The fee for new members is $30.00, and for returning members it is $15.00. If you are a graduating Senior and a member of LPH, be sure to pay your $8.00 gold cord fee. Specific deadlines for fees have not been decided because the list of eligible members is currently not available. Stay tuned for specific dates. For future reference, make your checks payable to UW-Parkside, and give them to Luke Andersen.

IV. NOTIFICATION OF NEW MEMBERS
As previously discussed, the list of eligible members is not available yet. When this list becomes available, letters will go out and e-mail lists will be updated as soon as possible.

V. MENTORING PROJECT
Last year, members of LPH attempted to mentor new Communication Majors to help them be successful in the major. It was determined that the project was overall not successful. To remedy the issues of the previous mentoring attempts, the suggestion to designate one specific time to mentor Communication students was made. This session, most likely during an LPH Meeting, would preferably be held closer to the time of registration so that students can be guided in the right direction. Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz said that she would mention the possibility of going to a mentoring session to her Comm-209 students in order to see if they would be interested. Also, the possibility of giving students extra credit for attending this session was mentioned.
The issue of advising came up in the conversation about mentoring. It was suggested that advising times should be posted online for students. Then, students can look up when a professor is available for advising, and e-mail the professor with a possible time to meet. This may be more convenient for both the student and professor in the long run.

VI. SERVICE PROJECT
Since LPH is a Communication Honors Society, the possibility of performing a service project was suggested. There is a red and white cord that can be attained through doing a certain number of hours (possibly 5 to 10) of service work. This cord would acknowledge the hard work of certain LPH members who completed a service project. Some suggestions for projects included: collaborating with the Senior Seminar project and/or taking a project the Senior Seminar class decided not to do, working at the Shalom Center, and a food drive around Thanksgiving.

VII. FIELD TRIP
There will be plans to schedule a field trip for LPH this semester. It is still open to suggestions as to when and where we will do this field trip. It was suggested that we go to Chicago since the past two field trips have been to Milwaukee.

VIII. SOCIAL EVENT
Since the Welcome Back event did not happen due to "summer slacking," a social event for LPH members is still open for discussion. An alumni/student social event was suggested for networking purposes. Ray said he could arrange to have this at his friend's bar, but members who are under 21 would not be able to attend. Further discussion of this event will take place in future meetings.

IX. WORKSHOPS
Workshops from the past have included resume and e-portfolio informational sessions. For the next workshop, the possibility of getting a Kaplan Representative to come and talk to LPH members was suggested. Kaplan is the leading organization that helps students learn how to take tests. They also have suggestions on how to take the GRE, the test to get into Graduate School. No one seemed to be interested in this possibility, though they were interested in the possibility of having an Internship Informational Session. This session would have students who have completed an internship talk about their experiences and what they learned through doing the internships. This would further encourage students to do internships, as it is an integral academic and professional learning experience.

X. THE JOURNAL - COMMUNICATION DEPARTMENT NEWSLETTER
The Journal, the department newsletter, has been resurrected. Jessica Dwyer will be the Editor, and Luke Andersen will be helping to post it on the Web. The newsletter is open to writing samples/submissions regarding anything that has to do with the department, or communication in general. This would be a perk to add to your portfolio or resume.

XI. NEXT MEETING
The next meeting will be Monday, September 22, 2003 at 12:00 p.m. Meetings will continue to take place biweekly.

Respectfully Submitted,
Kathryn Seamans, Secretary