SIGUCCS FY'04 Annual Report

July 2003 - June 2004
Submitted by: Robert Paterson, SIGUCCS Chair

SIGUCCS (Special Interest Group for University and College Computing Services) hosted two successful conferences during 2003-2004 and ended the year with a significant fund balance. Membership increased slightly due in part to marketing efforts at conference events.

The Executive Committee members were: Chair; Robert Paterson, Vice Chair; Lida Larson, Secretary Jerome Smith, Treasurer; Alan Herbert, Information Director, Nancy Bauer. Linda L. Downing and Jack Esbin were members-at-large. Jennifer Fajman serves as the immediate past-chair.

Terms for Alan Herbert, Jack Esbin and Linda Downing ended this year. Lida Larson also resigned as a board member. Since SIGUCCS is at this point a "conference only" SIG, the Chair appointed Nancy Bauer as Vice Chair/conference liaison, Jim Bostick as Treasurer and Teresa Lockard as Information Director, for one year terms. Jerome Smith remains as Secretary as does Jennifer Fajman as immediate past-chair. We have appointed 4 volunteers as non-board members to head specific operational committees. Ethan Benatan will coordinate tutorials for the both conferences, Shiree Moreland will coordinate vendor relations, Lynnell Lacy will coordinate the state captains program and Jack Esbin will be the CSMS conference treasurer. The elected SIGUCCS Executive Committee has been reduced from seven to five members.

Planning

The Executive Committee held planning meetings during each conference. We expanded on the concepts of the previously created Marketing and Web Services subcommittees and heard a report about the potential for Consulting Services. This latter effort, while interesting, needs volunteer leadership. We will be doing marketing focus groups at the 2004 fall conference. Our new information director will be looking at ways to expand our web services.

SIGUCCS was successful as a Conference Only SIG in 2004. The fall conference exceeded financial goals. The spring conference had its largest participation since the mid 1990's but still needs more development and growth.

The Executive Committee is rewriting its bylaws to meet the new operational model adopted by SGB to designate all SIG with the same governance. We will hold elections for the Executive Committee next year.

Awards Program

The SIGUCCS Awards Programs have been in place for many years. The two most recently established programs are the Penny Crane Award, to recognize significant multiple contributions from individuals over an extended period of time to SIGUCCS, and the Hall of Fame awards for the many individuals who have contributed their time and energies that have materially benefited SIGUCCS. For descriptions of the awards programs please go to: http://www.siguccs.org/awards.shtml

Penny Crane Award

Russell S. Vaught was the recipient of the 2003 Penny Crane Award for more information please go to: www.acm.org/sigs/siguccs/awards/PCraneAwards/pc2003.htm

Hall of Fame

There were 8 people installed in the Hall of Fame. They were: Patrick J. Gossman, Tex Hull, Linda J. Hutchison, Leila C. Lyons, Dennis Mar, Beth Ruffo, Vincent H. Swoyer, J. Michael Yohe. For a description of the recipients please go to: 2003 SIGUCCS Hall of Fame

2003 User Services Awards

As we have done for many years, we held our documentation competition and awards in conjunction with the Fall User Services Conference in San Antonio, TX. A description of these awards and the 2004 winners can be found at: http://www.siguccs.org/awards.shtml

Conferences

The thirty-second Fall User Services Conference was held 21 to 24 September 2003 in San Antonio TX. The theme was Deep in the heart of Technology. 331 people attended the conference, with tutorial registration at 150. Proceedings were made available in both hard copy and CD ROM format. There were also discussion, panel and poster sessions as part of the conference. The conference had a surplus of approximately $26,000.

Following the theme established last year of moving the conference to new locations, the thirty-first spring Computer Services Management Symposium (CSMS) was held from March 21 to 23 in Santa Fe NM. The theme was: The Art of Leadership: Drawing it all together. The change in venue, and an aggressive marketing campaign attracted the largest participation since the mid 1990's. The registrations went up 20% from the previous year. Approximately 121 people attended this conference. The conference was a series of plenary sessions, facilitated discussion groups and evaluated papers. From all aspects, save one, this conference was a huge success. Due to four unforeseen circumstances as described in the treasurer's report the conference posted a $10,000 loss.

Future conferences include the Fall User Services Conference to be held in Baltimore MD October 10 - 13, 2004, and the CSMS in Charleston SC, March 22 to 22, 2005.

Financial and Membership Issues

(Note: see SIG Services section in the annual report for SIGUCCS financial and membership data.)

We continue to maintain a healthy fund balance, thanks in a large part to the success of our two annual conferences. As of the end of June 2004, our fund balance exceeded $293,000 and our membership was 475, a growth of about 8%, with a retention rate of about 67%.