January 31, 2006, 5:00pm, Showker G3

Dr. Dillon welcomed everyone and thanked them for coming.  He introduced Shannon Meyers, Rahul Kapoor, and Brett Phelps from IBM Business Consulting who began their presentation "A Day in the Life of a Consultant".

Brett Phelps explained that there is no clear-cut definition to the term "consulting", and gave several different examples of jobs he has worked on in the past to illustrate this point.  Rahul Kapoor also gave examples from the job he is currently working on to emphasize the time and travel commitments involved in the consulting industry.  They then discussed several reasons to choose to enter the consulting world, which included attractive benefits, new learning opportunities, and the ability to move throughout the company hierarchy to achieve the position and type of work you desire.

Brett and Shannon Myers were visiting as representatives recruiting for the Public Sector of IBM Business Consulting, so they discussed the different requirements in order to be considered for one of their positions.  There was a brief question and answer period and IBM's presentation was concluded.

Email addresses for the IBM representatives are provided below:
Shannon Myers: Meyers1@us.ibm.com
Rahul Kapoor:   rahul.kapoor@us.ibm.com
Brett Phelps:   brettphelps@us.ibm.com

Dr. Dillon continued the AITP portion of the meeting with discussion of the AITP National Collegiate Conference and the several events AITP Members could be eligible for.   Erin Vaughan passed around sign-up sheets and members signed up for individual events.  If you would like to attend the conference and participate in an event, please contact Dr. Dillon as soon as possible.

The meeting was adjourned.  Next meeting time to be announced.

December 7 , 2005, 7:00pm, Showker 104

Jonathan Albert welcomed everyone and thanked them for coming.  He introduced Delena Bratton of FAST Enterprises, who began her presentation entitled "Beyond Compensation:  What to Look For in a Job".

Ms. Bratton started off by introducing herself, and highlighting some of her past experience working in the government taxation field.  She then presented information gathered from Gallup polls which described the top twelve aspects people are looking for in a job today.  Afterwards, she noted that none of the twelve included salary or vacation time, but instead focused on having enough resources and encouragement for employees to perform to the best of their abilities.

Next, Ms. Bratton briefly gave tips on how to stand out in the workplace and become an asset to the company you work for.  Finally, she presented information about her company, FAST Enterprises.

There was a brief question/answer period, and then Jonathan Albert and Dr. Dillon discussed the AITP National Competition in Texas.  All who are interested are welcome to participate.  Please see Jonathan or Dr. Dillon for more information.

Meeting adjourned at 8:00pm.

September 21, 2005, 7:00pm, Showker 101

Jonathan Albert welcomed everyone who came, introduced himself to the group as president of AITP, and outlined the meeting agenda.  He then introduced Dr. Rick Mathieu, the new chairperson for the department of Computer Information Systems and Management Science.

Dr. Mathieu gave a brief personal history as well as a history of his teaching career before coming to JMU.  He then discussed the shortage of computing professionals in today's industry, and how starting salaries of CIS majors are increasing but enrollment in the major is decreasing.  He talked about the College of Business' accreditations from both the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) and ABET Inc., the recognized accreditor for college and university programs in applied science, computing, engineering, and technology.  Both of these accreditations result in a win-win situation for JMU's CIS graduates.  He profiled a few JMU alumni and showed us the exciting different types of jobs available after graduation.  Finally, Dr. Mathieu discussed and encouraged participation in the AITP national competition, which Dr. Dillon will discuss more in-depth (see below).

Dr. Harry Reif spoke next, covering the Las Vegas trip sponsored by the CIS/MS department for one student to attend the International Telecom Education & Research Association (ITERA) trade show.  Anyone who is/has been enrolled in CIS 320 is eligible to apply.  Contact Dr. Reif at reifhl@jmu.edu for more information.

Dr. Tom Dillon, AITP's faculty advisor, spoke about the upcoming AITP National Conference held in Dallas, Texas this March.  Last year, JMU AITP went to Atlanta and competed with other chapters of AITP around the US, and the web site ( http://www.jmuaitp.org/ ) placed in the top 10 of the nation. Despite its lack of visual elements like Macromedia Flash, he said, JMU students had the know-how to meet business requirements, outsource problems, and complete the project successfully.  Dr. Dillon challenged AITP members to participate in the competition once again this year.  Several fundraising issues were discussed.

Membership applications and dues were collected.  If you have not completed your applications or have not paid dues, please bring them to Dr. Tom Dillon, ZSH 317.

Finally, Jonathan Albert outlined potential speakers for AITP meetings this year.  Several recognized companies were listed, including PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Lockheed Martin, Rockingham Insurance Group, Accenture, and more. There was a brief question/answer period, and the meeting was adjourned.