Student Advisory Council
3rd Annual Meeting, Minutes
Tampa, Florida, May 10, 2007, 11:00-12:00 pm


Attendees:


Matt Altman
David Alverez
Dori Barone
Brian Becker
Shaofei Chen
Helen Claudio
Steve DeGloria
Bon Dewitt
Geoffrey Duh
Marcia Garcia-Quijano
Morgan Grundy
James Hulka
Barbara Kar
Zhengziao Tony Li
Marguerite Malmotra
Jacob Morton
David Stolarz
Jonathan Thayn
Kim Tilley
Nilesh Timilsina
Jeff Weinberger
Michael Wing
Xiagin Yang
Libin Zhou



11:00 Call to Order (Sandra Hunkele)

Sandra began by discussing the purpose of the Student Advisory Council.
Attendees then
introduced themselves.


11:10 Report of SAC Communications Councilor (Jonathan Than)

Jonathan solicited input regardingn the content and format of the SAC
newsletter. He
proposed an online format rather than a pdf or print format in order to take
advantage of
the adaptability of electronic media, including RSS subscriptions and links to
other sites
for additional information. In subsequent discussion, attendees made the
following
suggestions regarding the content of the newsletter.

1. Grant information, including due dates, eligibility and links to grant
websites.
2. Biographies of working professionals from academic, government and private
sectors. This will give students ideas and direction for their own careers.
3. Listing of free tools, including:
a. Data Sources.
b. Freeware and open-source software.
c. MatLab or R scripts, others as well.
d. Templates for resumes, vitas, business cards and portfolios.
4. Chapter success stories and suggestions.
5. Links to chapter websites and region websites.
6. Current research topics as suggestions for thesis and dissertation work.
Profiles of
student research could work here as well.
7. Searchable profiles containing research interests and expertise of other
students and
young professionals in order to foster collaborative research. This might
include links to
published papers from PE&RS of conference proceedings.


11:25 Report of SAC Educational Development Councilor (Shaofei Chen)

Shaofei began by discussion the proposed student and young professional tracts
for the
2008 ASPRS Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon. The four tracts are:

1. Special Session: Getting a Job
A panel discussion on resumes, CVs and online/printed portfolios including buzz
words,
recommendations and tips. It will include mock interviews with representatives
from the
studentsŐ target industries.
2. Workshop-Style Session: Scientific Communication
How to organize scientific papers, editing and grammar. Including tips from
editors and
understanding the peer review process. Russ Congalton, Mike Renslow and Jim
Merchant
have agreed to sit on this panel. Attendees requested that this session include
suggestions for successful presentations and editors from other journals.
3. Special Session: Writing a Grant
A panel of successful grant applicants and people who have served on grant
selection
committees will discuss the process of grant application writing, components of
a good
proposal, what makes a grant application stand out, how to select an appropriate
grant
and how to prepare a grant budget. There was a lot of discussion and interest
in this
topic.
4. Special Session: Entering the Workforce
A discussion regarding how to effectively work in groups, specifically, how to
appropriately
pursue and agenda as a new employee or faculty member without stepping on the
toes of
more senior co-workers.

All of these suggestions were well received and attendees felt that these would
be
meaningful and useful additions to the meeting. One attendee suggested that
these
sessions be open to all young professionals in addition to students, which was
quickly
endorsed.


11:46 Other Discussion Items (Sandra Hunkele)

Suggestions for Hot Topics for next year include a discussion of the LandSat
Continuity
Mission and the future of satellite remote sensing systems in general. The
attendees also
felt that the Speed Networking and the Guided Tour of the Exhibitors were good
ideas,
although attendees would be more likely to participate if the events were not
scheduled
during technical sessions. Several attendees did not participate because they
were
interested in the concurrent technical sessions. Also, attendees felt that
scheduling the
Speed Networking before the larger social (as was done this year) was a great
idea. There
was a brief discussion regarding an official letter verifying a studentŐs
participation in the
annual meeting for use by the student in negotiating with professors when the
conference
conflicts with final exams.

It was also suggested that we encourage chapter advisors to assist their
chapters in
securing server space on school computers for hosting chapter websites. It was
felt that
this might be the most stable, long-term location for websites.

Sandra announced the Chapter of the Year Award and the Chapter Advisor of the
Year
Award.

Attendees voted on the name of the newsletter and the ballots were collected.
The name
is Signatures.


12:00 Adjournment (Sandra Hunkele)