IUGA

Welcome back!

srt4 — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 20:46:25 +0000

The IUGA officers would like to welcome you to the 2011-2012 year!

What is IUGA?
IUGA stands for “Informatics Undergraduate Association”. Our goal is to make your experience in the Informatics program a much more enjoyable one. We organize numerous events throughout the quarter designed to help you meet fellow Informatics students, connect professionally to others in our field, and simply expand your knowledge. Furthermore, we serve as a link between students and faculty in the iSchool.

How can I get involved?
Come to the events! This is by far the easiest way to get involved with IUGA, as we have several events each quarter. We will post our events here:
· Facebook group, which you can find here https://www.facebook.com/groups/iuga.uw/ (Join the group!)
· The IUGA Website: www.iuga.info
· The weekly email
The second way to get involved is to be a first year representative in IUGA.

What is a first year representative?
First year representatives relay IUGA information and events to fellow first years, and also communicate the opinions and wishes of the first years to IUGA officers, iSchool faculty, and staff. First year reps will also plan, coordinate and help run events throughout the year. Being a first year rep gives you the opportunity to be a link between your fellow students and the iSchool, and also gives you experience in a student leadership role.

If you’re interested, send a brief, one paragraph summary of why you want to be a first year rep to iuga@uw.edu.

Have a great week and let’s make this year awesome!

- Your IUGA officers
Chris Mathews, President
Zach Badger-Markey, Vice President
Mona Im, Director of Finance
Mai Bouchet, Director of Operations
Veronica Ivaniukovich, Director of PR
Spencer Thomas, Director of Technology
Gigi Gillie, Outreach Coordinator

– Photo CC Flickr user Kables

End of the year BBQ

Admin Account — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 00:16:49 +0000

Hey guys!
Join IUGA at the End of the Year BBQ. We’ll be grilling hot dogs and hamburgers (vegan options available!), beer (for those 21+), and all sorts of delicious BBQ goodness. Event costs are $5 if you’re an Informatics student and $7 for all other majors. Feel free to invite your friends and family! We’ll have games, sports equipment, and a photo booth to celebrate all the graduating Info Students.

See you there!

What: Annual End of the Year BBQ

Where: Sylvan Grove

When: Saturday June 4th, 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm

How much: $5 for INFO students, $7 for everyone else, Bring your ID’s!

IUGA Group Outing: Mariners Vs White Sox Game!

Admin Account — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 23:10:43 +0000

Hey guys!

Ready to enjoy a few hours of America’s favorite pasttime?

IUGA is planning a group outting to the Seattle Mariners vs Chicago White Sox Game on May 6th.
We’re selling tickets for $15

Who: IUGA + Friends
What: Seattle Mariners vs Chicago White Sox Game
Where: Safeco Field, Seattle
When: May 6th, 2011, Game starts at 7:10 PM
Notes: Free Ichiro Bobbleheads to the first 25,000 Fans.
How much: $15 for tickets

To buy tickets, e-mail iuga@uw.edu or talk to any of your IUGA officers.

Game Nights!

Admin Account — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 00:20:14 +0000

Hi Everybody!

Here are the gaming events we have planned for the next 3 weeks. We will update this page as more information becomes available.

WHAT: LAN Party/Social Gaming Night
WHEN: Friday, April 8th @ 8:30pm
WHERE: MGH 4th floor
INFO: Console games will start at 8:30 and PC games at 9:30. Entrance + Food are free for INFO students. Non-INFO students will have to pay a nominal fee.

WHAT: Starcraft Tournament
WHEN: Saturday, April 16th @ 6:30pm – 12:00am
WHERE: MGH 430
INFO: The winner of this tournament will get a spot in the Yoi! gaming tournament (on 4/23)
ON FB: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=147984038601128

WHAT: Yoi! Starcraft Tournament
WHEN: Saturday, April 23rd
INFO: The entrance fee is $10 for INFO students and $20 for everyone else. More information can be found here.

Hope to see you there!

IUGA Officers

A Call to Action!

Admin Account — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 03:04:40 +0000

As you might have heard the University’s administration is considering consolidating the iSchool with another college and significantly reduce course and degree offerings. Student leaders recently met to discuss what we should do to convince the University to keep the iSchool as a separate school and show them just how awesome we are

Here is what YOU can do to help!

Come to the Town Hall meeting with the Interim President. On Tuesday the 8th 4:00-5:00PM in Kane Hall 120 (we will meet in the MGH commons at 3:30 for those who can make it). Wear a white shirt/tshirt and we will hand out iSchool stickers to put on top. More information can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=114224035322803&ref=ts
Like the Save the UW iSchool page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saveuwischool?ref=ts
Sign the petition: http://bit.ly/ischoolpetition
Contact your legislator: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder/ for a sample letter (just fill in the blanks )go to https://www.facebook.com/notes/save-the-uw-ischool/36-update-sample-letter-to-legislator/130701487001750

More information will be posted on the Facebook page as it becomes available.

The iSchool is our school!

Election Results!

Admin Account — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 03:41:51 +0000

Hi everybody!

Here are the winners of the 2011-2012 elections!! Congratulations to all the winners!

President: Chris Mathews

Vice President: Zach Badger-Markey

Director of Finance: Mona Im

Director of Operations: Mai Bouchet

Director of PR: Veronica Ivaniukovich

Director of Information Technology: Spencer Thomas

Outreach Coordinator: Gigi Gillie

Thanks to everyone who voted!

Blogs Every Informatics Student Should Know

IUGA — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 20:26:33 +0000

Blogs have taken the internet world by storm. Google has one, Rachel Ray has one, hell even my grandma has one. While some are reliable, others are plagued with misinformation and bad layouts. With the plethora of blogs out there, where can a well-to-do Informatics student go to look for up-to-date and interesting articles about his/her field? Fret no more, here are a list of blogs and why you should read them. Enjoy!

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/ The author here makes infographics that tend to please the eye. A must for anyone who is interested in information visualization or wants to learn while looking at something.
http://infosthetics.com/ This blog follows the information visualization world, so if you want to get up to date on the industry or see what the big names in the world are producing, check this one out.
http://stamen.com/ The people here seem really cool. They take data from open APIs and massage the data to create a variety of services that they then sell to clients. Great place to see how you can make a profit taking with information (plus, they are hiring!).
http://www.visualcomplexity.com/vc/ This site is a congregation of complex network projects. Basically they try to model different networks visually. It’s nice because it feels like a visual academic journal.
http://flowingdata.com/ FlowingData explores how designers, statisticians, and computer scientists are using data to understand ourselves better – mainly through data visualization. Money spent, reps at the gym, time you waste, and personal information you enter online are all forms of data. How can we understand these data flows? Data visualization lets non-experts make sense of it all.
http://www.visualisingdata.com/ This blog is more of an article-type site, with the posts usually ending up with more than 500 words. It’s good at bringing to light the story and the theory behind visualization of information.

Do you read more interesting blogs? Think that these ones are atrocious? Love this post? Want a cookie? Then leave a comment below and let us know.

Resume UX

IUGA — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 19:07:22 +0000

Hi Everybody!
Last week I attended a workshop by HCDE/Microsoft on how to create a resume to get a job in User Experience. Here are the main points they covered.

Fundamentals

You have 10 seconds to make an impact. The recruiter is only going to be skimming the resume to quickly understand what your strengths are so they have to be evident. If he finds them and they match the job description, then he will read the resume for content. The key is to make it relevant to the job you want and keep it concise. Also, don’t make assumptions about the recruiter’s knowledge, he might not know what all the acronyms mean! Lastly, remember that if you want to work in UX, your resume must show a good sense of design in terms of font, layout, and color, as well as use good grammar and spelling.

Strategies

Include triggers from job descriptions. Practice this by going through 12 job descriptions and identifying what they are really looking for, sometimes you will have to read between the lines. Then include these things in your resume and see if someone else can find them quickly.

Remember that your resume has two audiences: (1) the recruiter, (2) the hiring manager, who is going to spend more time on it. The recruiter will only spend about 10 seconds on it, and he is going to be focusing on the initial words in each line, so remember to use action words at the beginning of the sentence.

Writing

Remember to put the most important concepts at the beginning of the sentence, and get to the point! Your resume should answer these questions: what are you great at? What could you bring to the team? When describing projects, focus more on the skills you used and developed, not what the project is about. An easy way to measure this is simply to count the number of words you dedicate to describing the project vs. the skills. The latter should have more words! Lastly, remember to include what your contributed to the project and the impact you made.

Design

Put your contact information at the top of the page, this includes name, address, email, phone number, and possibly your degree completion date. Also, typography is very important so use a good font! You can read an article on this topic here. In general, look for a clear, crisp, sans serif font, and try to use the same font throughout the resume. In terms of layout, try to use a good grid and a clear visual hierarchy, pay attention to white space, and try to establish your brand.

Also, try to break up information visually, such as:
Student Web Producer_____________________September ’08 – present
UW Office of Research – Seattle, WA
If you have a “laundry list” of skills put it in a place where it takes up less expensive space, such as at the bottom of the page. It is useful for database search engines, but not very readable for humans. Make sure that your resume can be printed (so make it letter sized) and that if they view it on a computer screen they do not have to zoom.

The HCDE Career fair is on Wednesday, February 23, 2:30pm – 5:30pm in Kane Hall, Walker Ames Room (Room 225). If you have any questions post them as comments in the space below.

Pizza and Chatter at Seattle’s Monthly UX Meet Up

Admin Account — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 02:29:58 +0000

Last Tuesday I headed over to First Hill with a couple of friends and fellow Informatics classmates for the monthly UX Meet Up in Seattle. It was the first time for most of us, as we are first year students, and we were unsure of what to expect. We stepped into Piecora’s and were led upstairs to a room filled with people chatting, munching on delicious pizza and sipping beer. It was slightly intimidating at first, but we were reassured as we quickly spotted Dowell as well as some other familiar faces from the iSchool.
Once we had a few slices of pizza and got our courage up, we began to introduce ourselves and mingle. I spoke with a large variety of students (both undergraduate and graduate), UX designers and others in the industry. There was a good mix of young and old, inexperienced and experienced. I met an iSchool Ph.D. student, MSIM students and two senior UX designers. We talked mostly about people’s specific interests in the field and their recent projects. It was a good way to ask questions about people’s various paths after their undergraduate life, why they chose what they did, and how they liked it. I also asked for interview tips from a few people who routinely interviewed candidates for jobs and internships.
If you are interested in going, I suggest knowing what you hope to get out of the experience. If you are just looking to meet people in the industry and get a chance to talk to them, it can be a very relaxed outing, given the atmosphere. If you are looking for a job or an internship, remember to act professionally despite the casual surroundings. Either way, it’s a great way to network and meet people. Don’t be shy and get up and mingle—that’s what it’s all about!

The UX meet up happens every second Tuesday of every month. For more information, visit http://www.meetup.com/SeattleUX/

- Mai Bouchet

Officer Candidates

IUGA — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 01:26:18 +0000

Here are the candidates for the 2011-2012 IUGA officer positions. This page is updated daily to include more information about the candidates. See here for a description of officer roles and responsibilities.

President

Chris (unopposed)

Chris Mathews

There’s no question that we’re all here in the Information School because Informatics offers a breadth of knowledge and skills beyond that of any other major. Informatics students will be game changers, life changers, and world changers. We will mold industries and shape the future through a mastery of information science and a trained, people-centered approach. As your IUGA president, I will push to create and uphold a vision for the future of Informatics and IUGA that is as ambitious and exiting as its student body. I will strive to increase class unity and participation in IUGA events and meetings, as well as represent your drive and ambition amongst iSchool faculty and staff. Let’s work together to create a student-built foundation not only for our own success, but also the continued success of future Informatics students. My fellow classmates, it would be an honor and a privilege to serve next year as your IUGA president.

Vice President

Zach vs. Andrew

Zach Badger-Markey

Zachary Markey

Hello fellow classmates, my name is Zach. I would like the opportunity to serve you as Vice President of IUGA next year. I believe I am a good candidate because I am passionate about Informatics and I want to make the major as good as it can possibly be. You might ask, “Why would I vote for this guy?” I will answer: Currently I am a First Year Representative, so I know firsthand the processes of IUGA and how to be effective in the organization. I am always open to new ideas and have a wide breadth of experience. For instance, I have been in multiple plays in the Drama department, created and launched a two-stage rocket with a professor from the Earth and Space Sciences, participated in a research project with iSchool faculty (Professor Efthi), and am currently Director of IT for the Social Entrepreneurship Club. These diverse experiences have given me a unique perspective and taught me how to communicate effectively in groups and one-on-one, which I believe will be an asset to IUGA and the Informatics major in general. Thanks for your time, I look forward to seeing you around the iSchool!

TLDR (too long didn’t read) version: I’m passionate about IUGA, have lots of experience, and would like to serve you as VP next year.

Andrew Peter Nichols

Andrew Nichols

I have been working in IT for almost two years and I have been in management positions for over 4. I have a passion for technology, people, ideas, and bringing them all together. I see informatics as the outlet for creative computer savvy people like iSchool students and I want to be a part of that group that will create fun, interesting, and important events for those students. I think my peers at the iSchool will agree that despite the challenges we face from acceptance to graduation, the iSchool is one of the best experiences in my life, and I want to help it become better for my friends, colleagues and future students.

Director of Finance

Mona vs. Annie

Mona Im

Hi, my name is Mona and I want to be the Director of Finance for IUGA. I’ve been actively involved with IUGA for last two years as a First Year Representative and the Public Outreach Coordinator. I’d like to continue working for the Informatics student body with my analytical and organizational skills to manage IUGA’s financial records and reimbursements. Furthermore, I will work hard with other IUGA officers to create various events and workshops that reflect your interests. Thank you.

Annie Huang

As a first year informatics major, I have been welcomed into the ischool community and have seen how close-knit the community is. Going onto my second year, I hope that this sense of community will continue to grow and extend to the incoming class. As the Director of Finance, I hope to work with other officers to achieve this. Being a former engineering student, math is definitely not a problem for me. In addition, I am a person who pays attention to detail so you can count on me to provide accurate monthly financial reports and keep track of the budget. I look forward to utilizing my skills to benefit the ischool community.

Director of Operations

Mai (unopposed)

Mai Bouchet

I am very excited to run for IUGA office as the Director of Operations for the coming year. I am very passionate about Informatics and the iSchool as a whole, as well as the great students we have in our major. I am dedicated to building a sense of community among Informatics majors and wish to further solidify this by organizing fun social events as well as helpful, relevant workshops for students. I am currently a first-year representative for IUGA and I already have knowledge of the association and how it works. Additionally, I enjoying speaking with fellow Informatics students and making new friends, and welcome feedback from them about improvements that could be made. I would love to further promote the iSchool university-wide to encourage freshmen and sophomores to gain interest in and apply to the major, as it is still relatively unknown on campus. I also hope that this new team of officers will be able to recruit more businesses as official IUGA sponsors, allowing us to have even better events and opportunities to create connections. I am looking forward to the opportunity to bring these changes and improvements to you all.

Director of Public Relations

Veronica vs. Rachel

Veronica Ivaniukovich

Hi, my name is Veronica and I am excited to run for IUGA’s Public Relations Director. I believe that I am the right candidate for this position because I am an excellent communicator and have considerable experience in leadership. Currently acting as a Resident Advisor, I behave as a campus resource for my residents and work to connect them with relevant opportunities for individual and academic development. Being their point of contact to the happenings in the residence community, I have learned how to effectively communicate their point of view on various community issues and organize events that reflect these opinions and needs. If chosen for the Public Relations Director position, I promise to represent the iSchool community to the best of my ability and make sure that each iSchool student feels connected to the events happening in IUGA and the UW IT community.

Rachel A. Cascio

Rachel Cascio

I’d love the opportunity to serve as the IUGA Director of Public Relations in the 2011-2012 school year for several reasons that dually qualify me for the position. First, my enthusiasm for the field of Informatics easily pervades all aspects of my life. Any daily experience involves engaging information at social, technological, and professional levels. This means my smart phone is a meaningful extension of myself, and my laptop is beginning to fuse itself to my lap. Enabling me to serve as a public relations contact for IUGA is, in a way, making official the position that I’ve unofficially created for myself since my admittance into the program at the end of my freshman year. Furthermore, my peers and colleagues have long since identified me as the “go-to” tech girl; an indication of how naturally I am affiliated with the gains of the Informatics program, as well as my connection with the public in general. My charismatic personality has serendipitously designated me as Technology Chair of my chapter, liaison for various friends and family to the professional community, and my mom’s personal iPod-tech support. All in all, I already feel as though I serve as a Director of Public Relations in my own personal network, and I would enjoy nothing more than to extend that network to the rest of the Association’s members.

Director of Information Technology

Spencer (Unopposed)

Spencer Thomas

Hi everyone! I’m running for the IUGA director of technology for next year. I decided to run for this position for several reasons: first, throughout the year I’ve had many great opportunities to connect with the Informatics student body, many of them through IUGA. I feel that having an organization like IUGA is very important to our major, given its small size and cohesiveness. Because of this, I would like to help the organization continue to connect Informatics students for our cohort and all the others to come (and those which have graduated).

Secondly, as a current first year officer, I’ve become familiar with the workings of the organization, and therefore would begin the next year ready to do everything required by the position.

Lastly, since I am a sophomore right now, I’ll have opportunities to help both IUGA, and whoever may run for director of technology from 2012-2013. This is important, since there is a lot of work and learning behind the position, and having extra help would be a great asset.

Thanks for taking the consideration, and I hope to be your director of technology next year!

Outreach Coordinator

Henry vs. Gigi

Henry Qin

I am interested in running for Outreach Coordinator. The positions sounds like a great opportunity to promote the Informatics major to business industries and the greater community around us strengthening awareness of the iSchool as it expands. My goal for the position would be to increase awareness of Informatics and the iSchool out to a greater number of businesses so that they can better recognize where our skill sets lie when our majors are seeking internships and jobs after graduation. I have already seen the gradual increase in recognition of Informatics just at the career fairs and other events I’ve attended and would love to contribute to this positive expansion. I believe that I would be great for this position as I have personally established many professional connections outside of the iSchool myself. I interned at Boeing this past summer as an IT intern and will be interning with Microsoft this coming summer in MSIT as a Solution Manager. I have also spoken with many other recruiters from various other companies at career fairs. Lastly, I am also involved with SEBA (Science and Engineering Business Association) who have many connections to the Science and Engineering industries in our area. I would love to utilize all the resources before me to best serve as your Outreach Coordinator.

Gigi Gillie

Informatics students,
Although I can not be here in person to run for this position, I hope all of you will consider me when voting in the IUGA elections.

With the iSchool expanding rapidly at an exciting rate, IUGA’s responsibility in promoting awareness of our department to the community around us will increase drastically. I’m running for the outreach coordinator because I feel I fit the needs of the position. Having passionately worked in fundraising for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation for the past three years, I have experience in raising issues and “spreading the word”. I have frequently been in touch with past alumni while working as a student caller for the Office of Annual Giving, I am experienced in raising funds for all departments of our school as well as listening to their concerns.

Finally, I take great pride in being an Informatics student! I would be a great point of contact for other people who are curious or know very little about Informatics. Now is the time to spread a bigger word about the awesome department we belong to.

The iSchool is mySchool,

Gigi Gillie