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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