Page 10 Penn State, Harrisburg Forms Student Chapter of ASM By Kathleen Riley-King "We are the only school within central Pennsylvania from University Park probably to Philadelphia with such a student chapter [of the Association for Systems Management]," says Dr. Mehdi Khosrowpour, chairman of the informa tion systems program and faculty advisor of Capital College's new student chapter of ASM. Two months ago, the student chapter was granted a charter by its parent organization, the Central Pennsyl vania Chapter of ASM. In Europe and the United States, ASM is considered the second largest association of systems profes sionals in the information systems field, says Khosrowpour, who is a member of the Central Pennsylvania Chapter. According to Pat Basso, presi dent of Capital College's student chapter, ASM has contact with 32 countries and consists of about 9,000-10,000 mem bers. Khosrowpour says that the purpose of forming a student chapter at Capital College is to allow students to participate in professional development. The students will get to meet pro fessionals in the field, to make necessary contacts, and to use the expertise of the parent organization's members to en hance their knowledge and education in the field, he says. In addition, the group was formed to give students and the information systems program recogni tion among employers in the sur rounding area. The student chapter of ASM differs from the school's other computer club, DPMA (Data Processing Manage ment Association), in that ASM con centrates on the management aspect of information resources, Khosrowpour contends. PSPEC Honored as Best Student Chapter at Convention Thirty-six members of the PSPEC (Professional Engineers and Contractors) attended the national Association of General Contractors convention March 5-9 in Washington, D.C. The AGC is the largest contractor organization in the world, with over 35,000 members, 5,400 of which attended the convention. The Penn State/Harrisburg chapter received its charter in February 1986, and was selected to be the best student chapter in Washington. Penn State/Harrisburg was selected in early fall semester from among 140 AGC student chapters from across the nation. Over 350 students attended the con vention. The PSU/Harrisburg chapter not only hosted the student convention, but assisted the AGC in organizing the national convention. Some of their duties consisted of serving as ushers and monitors for the regular seminars. Some of the seminars they assisted at included speakers such as Robert Dole, Robert Basso says that the purpose of the new group is to educate students about systems management. To become a member, a student must be registered full-time and not be employed full-time. Among the benefits a student member receives are a sub scription to the Journal of Systems Management, access to .a national hot line for job placement, and a reduced membership fee of $l5 per year. Additionally, once a student member joins the work force, for three years he or she will pay reduced fees that gradually progress to the regular fee of $B5 per year. Another benefit is a book Capital College's ASM officers, from left to right: Pat Basso, president; Cordella Englar, secretary; Donna Aikens, treasurer; Dr. Khosrowpour, ASM faculty advisor. Missing from photo: Mike Maitland, vice-president. In addition to these duties, the students also were responsible for setting up and maintaining an exhibit table where the PSU/Harrisburg construction program received national exposure. The students made arrangements for housing the 350 students who attended the con ference. As a way of recognizing the hard work of the student members, the Contractors Association of Western Pennsylvania held a special reception for the PSU/Harrisburg students. The CAWP is PSU/Harrisburg's sponsoring chapter. This reception was a great opportunity for both groups to get acquainted. The students are already making plans for next year's AGC conference, which is being held in New Orleans. Capital Times listing the Central Pennsylvania Chap ter's members. The book provides the student with a resource of places to submit resumes or apply for internships. In conjunction with DPMA, the student chapter of ASM does software reviews. Basso says that he looks through public domain software packages until he finds something that stands out to him. Then he presents the package to the university. He explains what the package does, why it is bene ficial, and why the university should have it. Also, DPMA and the student chapter of ASM have a software library PSPEC members (from left) Steve Weir, vice-president, Jim Zikmund, president, Maureen Purcell Secretary/Treasurer, Kim Couteret, Larry McGee, Pat Siguin, Roy Trent, Mike Phillips(at top). available to students. The library is in the Computer Center and consists of programs obtained from public domain sources. Copies of these programs are sold for $2 each at DPMA meetings and ASM meetings. Basso says that one project his group is considering involves enhancing the microcomputer lab with a 30 mega byte hard disk. The disk would provide extra storage space that would aid students with their senior design Projects. The group plans to host a seminar for the parent organization on April 22. The topic will be Fourth- Generation Languages, and Dr. Khos rowpour will speak. Another project involves a monthly news bulletin that will be done by the group. It will address issues dealing with systems management, provide tips to computer users, and present software reviews. Students may submit articles or reviews of magazine articles as long as they are appropriate to the newsletter's content, which will not be purely technical in nature. The newsletter will be designed with the end user in mind and will be posted outside the Computer Center. The group will also make contact with businesses and schedule tours, host guest speakers, and attend monthly dinner meetings with the parent organization. Penn State at Harrisburg's chapter of ASM holds one meeting approximately every two weeks on a Tuesday or Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. A calendar of the group's events is posted outside the Computer Center. Anyone (regardless of major) who is interested in joining the organization should contact one of the officers or Dr. Khosrowpour in E 355. April 8, 1987
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers