Meghan Hansen - a portfolio
McGill Library and Information Studies Students' Association
Dive right in! My quick immersion into student government
I became a member of MLISSA in September 2007, as I entered the McGill's School of Information Studies to pursue a Master's degree in Library and Information Studies. My involvement in the leadership opportunities that MLISSA offered started early- within the first two weeks. Fall elections were held, and I ran for the post of Vice-President (Internal), becoming the representative for my cohort to MLISSA and to the Departmental meetings.
During the first part of that year, I observed much of the goings-on of the association, and familiarized myself with the kinds of events and activities that MLISSA hosts, as well as the more serious side of our work- representing students' interests to the larger community. I partnered with one of the CLA representatives to plan a trip to Ottawa to visit libraries there, and learned a lot about many of the aspects of being involved in student government.
In the Spring of 2008, I ran for the position of President of MLISSA for the following school year. Over the summer, once again from Ottawa, I was immersed in working with the organization that I was running. This time we were transferring the bank account signing authority and getting ready to welcome the incoming cohort of students in early September 2008.
In the 2008-2009 year, MLISSA has many activities planned. A small sample of this includes:
- Orientation, September 2008
- Committee work, including members on EGSS, PGSS, Departmental Committee, and a variety of others
- Representatives on the Working Group, Ad Hoc Committee, and subcommittees on Reaccreditation
- Publication of The Marginal
- Elections, September 2008 and February 2009
- Christmas party, scheduled for December 5th, 2008
- Trip to Ottawa, January 23, 2009
- Career Fair, March 5th, 2009
- Spring Fling, April 2009
- various other activities
MLISSA is also working closely with the McGill Student Groups of the CLA, SLA, ACA, and ABQLA, in providing a variety of lectures and presentations for the students of SIS, and more importantly, coordinates the calendar that the groups use to ensure that they do not plan activities at the same time.
I personally serve on the Departmental committee, various committees and subcommittees on Reaccreditation, and work on many of the other activities that have been presented by MLISSA.