Association for Information Systems

Annual Report 2015-2016

Georgia College & State University

2015-2016 AIS Annual Report | 2

A Letter from Our President

Greetings,

The Georgia College & State University (GCSU) Student Chapter of the Association for

Information Systems (AIS) had an incredible year. Within the past year, we began a process of

reforming the GCSU AIS chapter by engaging our student body with fun and exciting events for

them to attend. We planned several industry professionals to come and speak, continued to

enrich our local community with service projects, sent one of our members to the Women in

Technology conference in Houston, TX, and we competed in the SAP ERPsim competition held

at the annual AIS Student Leadership Conference held, this year, in Bloomington, IN, on the

campus of Indiana University.

Engaging Students

This year, GCSU AIS brought in guest speakers from SAP, Norfolk Southern, and the

GCSU IT Department. At each event, students were able to hear from these industry

professionals about how they use information systems in their careers. Students were then able

to ask how they can better their knowledge of information systems, how to prepare for

interviews with companies, and they were able to ask if the company represented was

currently seeking job applicants. We feel that it is paramount to engage our members with

these industry professionals as early as possible in order to allow each of them a competitive

advantage in their search for jobs. The employers were able to tell students how each of them

could succeed in their future with their MIS degree.

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Conferences

In October of 2015, our Vice President went to the Women in Technology conference

hosted in Houston, TX. While there, she attended several seminars and workshops designed to

gain knowledge and to encourage women to join the technology field.

In April of 2016, five GCSU AIS members drove to Bloomington, IN, to compete in the

SAP ERPsim competition. At the end of the competition, GCSU AIS placed 5th in the world, 1st in

the southeast, and 1st in the state of Georgia.

Looking Ahead

GCSU AIS has an exciting year ahead of it. In everything we do, we ensure that our

mission to, “promote the study, application, and advancement of information systems through

career enhancement, professional networking, and chapter development” is honored. We look

forward to what the future holds, and we are proud to be a part of the Association for

Information Systems.

Hayden Helms

GCSU AIS President

April 29, 2016

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A. Summary

Professional Development

o Guest Lecturers

SAP, Norfolk Southern, and GCSU IT Department.

o Intern Day

AIS Members presented presentations on internships

they have worked.

o IT Career Fair

AIS members attended the annual Georgia College IT

Career Fair.

o Lockheed Martin Trip

AIS members toured Lockheed Martin’s Marietta

campus.

o AIS Student Chapter Leadership Conference

AIS members competed in the SAP ERPsim

competition.

Community Service

o Technology Fairs

AIS judged local elementary school technology fairs.

Fundraising

o T-Shirt Sales

o IT Advisory Board Donation

Membership

Communications

o Communications Director, Anna Lidzba, increased our

overall presence by enhancing our online presence.

Facebook

Twitter

Website

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Careers in “IS”

o At Georgia College, we love being able to blend content to

gather to make it stronger. Our MIS degree is a part of the J.

Whitney Bunting College of Business.

Chapter Operations

o Officers

Names and roles of the President, VP, Treasurer, and

Secretary

o Directors

Names and roles of the various directors.

AIS Report Guidelines

Chapter Budget/Financial Statement

o We successfully ran this year in the black!

Metrics and Demographics

B. Professional Development

Guest Lecturers

Our chapter brought in several guest speakers from different industries to speak to our

members. Three of the most notable were SAP, Norfolk Southern, and the GCSU IT Department.

SAP came and spoke to our members about what SAP is and how they help businesses all over

the world with their amazing ERP system. Norfolk Southern came and spoke to our members

about how their databases are essential to keeping track of the inventory on all of their trains.

GCSU IT Department came and spoke to our members to discuss how they use information

systems to keep our personal information secure while it sits on their servers.

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Intern Day

Our chapter held an intern day where we had each of our members give a brief presentation

over an internship they did within the past year. Jobs varied from, low voltage cabling

technician, to computer technician, to IT Engineer.

IT Career Fair

Many of our members participated in the annual IT Career Fair at GCSU. Over 23 companies

attended the career fair seeking students to come and work as either interns or full-time

positions.

Lockheed Martin Trip

Many of our members went and toured Lockheed Martin’s Marietta, GA, campus. While there,

we enjoyed a presentation in which the leadership of Lockheed Martin’s IT Department showed

us how they use SAP and some home grown software to allow them to build military aircraft.

During the presentation, they also discussed how each of their different business departments

(production, supply chain management, and research & development) must all work together

in order to pull of the creation of an aircraft.

AIS Student Chapter Leadership Conference

Five of our members attended the annual AIS Student Leadership Conference. This year the

conference was held in Bloomington, IN. While there, GCSU AIS competed in the SAP ERPsim

competition. In the simulation, we ran a German dairy business, and we had to use logistics to

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transport the dairy products from one warehouse to a regional warehouse then sell the dairy

products to retailers. The objective of the competition was to gain the most net profit after

eight 10 minute rounds. At the end of the competition, GCSU AIS placed 5th in the world, 1st in

the southeast, and 1st in the state of Georgia.

C. Community Service

Technology Fairs

The Association for Information Systems at Georgia College and State University is dedicated to

helping our local community

through local schools in the

Baldwin County area.

Technology fairs are hosted

at Creekside Elementary

and Blandy Hills

Elementary for young

aspiring students

interested in the

information technology field. AIS members volunteer as judges at these competitions, using

their knowledge and experience with technology to give constructive feedback and to

determine which submissions will advance to the county level competition. Categories at these

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competitions include areas such as robotics, programming, multimedia, and animation. These

fairs provide opportunities for young students, allowing them to advance their knowledge of

information technology. AIS members also gain leadership and communication experience,

acting as role-models and sharing their assessments of submissions with the contestants.

D. Fundraising

The Association for Information Systems at GCSU relies on funding from the Information

Technology Advisory Board, the Student Activities Budget Committee, student membership

fees, and revenue from our club uniform. This funding is mainly used for the membership fee of

AIS, traveling expenses, and lodging expenses. The remaining funds are used for refreshments

at our club meetings and guest speaker presentations. Funding from the IT Advisory Board and

the Student Activities Budget Committee has allowed our members to travel across the nation

and represent our school at the AIS Student Leadership Conference, as well as supporting our

local activities, such as club meetings, recruitment, and social events.

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E. Membership

Our Georgia College Association for Information Systems chapter is comprised of twenty-four

members. Our members are each charged dues of $10 a year. We are made up of 8.3% Alumni,

41.6% seniors, 29.3% juniors, 16.6% sophomores, and 4.2% freshmen. In the past year, we have

increased our chapter’s meeting attendance by over 100%, while marketing ourselves to

freshmen and sophomores with intentions for them to join when they start taking more classes

pertaining to their Management Information Systems major or minor.

F. Communications

Our chapter has a position directly related to the communications, Anna Lidzba is our Director

of Communications. She, as well as the executive board, have been able to maintain interest in

our group by keeping our Facebook, Twitter, and website updated with information about club

meetings and job or internship opportunities that the Georgia College Management

Information Systems department head passes along to us. While our chapter attended the

Association for Information Systems in Bloomington, Indiana, our Twitter (@gcsuAIS) had live

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updates on the progress of our travels and the competition in which we competed. Our

Facebook also recognizes the members of our AIS chapter for their achievements in other

groups around campus and allows members or potential members to communicate directly

with the officers to give their feedback or show interest in the organization. Links to our pages

can be found below.

Website: http://ais.gcsu.edu/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/gcsuais/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/gcsuais/

G. Careers in “IS”

Throughout the school year, we promoted the field of Information Systems to the incoming

freshmen class of Georgia College. AIS representatives talked to large groups of potential

students and their families about the benefits of pursing the major Management Information

Systems and the benefits of joining AIS. Many freshman had never heard of the Management

To the left a screenshot of the

Georgia College Association for

Information Systems home page is

displayed.

Pictured (from left to right): Mark

Yancey, Aubree Doernberg, Hayden

Helms, and Jack Fraser.

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Information Systems degree, but sending relatable students who could speak first-hand on their

experience with the major seemed to peak their and their families interest. The Georgia College

Association for Information Systems felt that it was very important to the spread the knowledge

of how valuable a Management Information Systems degree is in the corporate world. We

emphasized that knowledge gained in our MIS curriculum is a blend of technical and business

knowledge, and that MIS is about applying information technology to business problems.

H. Chapter Operations

Our student chapter is broken down in a structure which involves not only the officers, but it

allows for members to serve as directors of operations. Below are listed what we refer to as the

executives of our chapter.

Officers

President: Hayden Helms – Oversees AIS, its operations, its members, and is the face of

the organization.

Vice President: Aubree Doernberg – Assumes the role of the president if the president is

unavailable, and oversees all directors.

Treasurer: Mark Yancey – Oversees all finances of the organization.

Secretary: Mitchell Pope – Oversees all documents, club attendance, and sending out

emails.

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Directors

Communications Director: Anna Lidzba – Oversees all forms of communication for the

organization including: social media, website postings, and public relations.

Events Director: Thomas Unger – Oversees all events on and off campus, and reserves

all the necessary lodging, obtains per diems, entertains guest speaker (if applicable), and

any other documents required for an event.

Community Service Director: Timothy Mertz – Oversees all community service

operations, and assigns members who volunteer for each activity.

SGA Liaison: Tiras Barrett – Oversees all communication between the Student

Government Association (SGA), and AIS.

Annual Report

Every year, GCSU AIS will submit an annual report to AIS for review. This annual report allows

for the officers to be able to look back at where they were last year, and see all that we have

accomplished.

I. AIS Report Guidelines

The AIS officers have written this report to comply with the guidelines set forth in the AIS

Student Chapter Annual Report Template Guidelines document downloaded from AISnet.org.

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J. Chapter Budget/Financial Statement

Carry over for the 2016-2017 fiscal year: $177.87

K. Metrics and Demographics

Revenues Budgeted Fall 2015 Spring 2016

AIS Travel Stipend - - $200.00

Membership Dues $230.00 $115.00 $115.00

T- Shirt Sales $80.00 $100.00 $100.00

IT Advisory Board Donation - - $1,000.00

Student Activity Board Funds $500.00 - $500.00

$810.00 $215.00 $1,915.00

$2,130.00

Expenses Budgeted Fall 2015 Spring 2016

AIS Due $500.00 - $495.00

Meetings $200.00 $82.00 $120.00

Administrative $600.00 $5.00 $1,000.00

Transportation $500.00 - $250.13

$1,800.00 $87.00 $1,865.13

$1,952.13