Rebuilding ACM

In my first semester as Chair, ACM did not go the best. We had multiple events fall apart due to the lack of documentation or mentoring the previous Chairs had left.

In this semester, I had to create promotional materials, contact potential speakers, schedule them, reserve rooms, budget food and drink, advertise the event, and file work with the department.

After this semester, I had created documentation on how to run ACM for future Chairs. I had created roles, expectations, calendars, planners, and a drive for collaboration.

Scaling Up

I had created roles, expectations, calendars, planners, and a drive for collaboration.

In the summer, I had grown the ACM board to 9 students.

After splitting duties, I currently am responsible for communicating with our Advisor, scheduling speakers, workshopping social events, reserving venues for social spaces, creating SIGwebdev schedules, coordinating SIGwebdev officers, creating a budget, and expanding ACM.

Vision for the Future

My vision for ACM is to create a space where students can participate in events that are both engaging and educational.

I want to offer opportunities for students to explore modern frameworks not covered in the NIU curriculum, discover their place in the tech industry, and leave SIG meetings with tangible portfolio projects.

I also want ACM to be a welcoming environment for students, a place where they can form friendships and build a professional network.

Many NIU students come from disadvantaged backgrounds, and by supporting them, we contribute to a more inclusive and equitable tech community.

Presentation

NIU Alum, BS 2006, JJ Frega of J2amIT Consultants came to discuss Appian

Appian is a low-code software development platform designed to help organizations build and automate business processes and applications. It combines process mining, workflow automation, and robotic process automation (RPA) capabilities into a unified platform.

JJ also gave a short presentation on Mainframe history, COBOL, and his experience as an 11 year COBOL programmer

Aftermath

This ACM presentation was a success.

The Process to reserve the room, order Pizza and Pop, and with the help of the new Vice-Chair, Douglas Johnson, was overall much easier.

40 Students attended.

Presentation

NIU Alum, BS 2004, Juan Arreola came to campus to discuss his career journey.

Juan spoke about his time at NIU, his first employer, the roadblocks he faced in the industry and his current position as a business intelligence architect

Aftermath

ACM had been going through a rough patch at this time, it felt very disorganized and filling out forms for events was exhuasting, confusing, and difficult.

Pizza and Pop was provided with the funding of the Department of Computer Science. 17 Students attended.

Presentation

More than 150 students came out to learn about mainframe careers. There was the panel discussion by recent NIU alumni and current students who are working in the mainframe industry.

ACM volunteered to sign in students

Discussion Panel

Former longtime ACM Advisor, NIU Mainframe instructor, and IBM champion Geoffrey Decker introduces the Alum Panel