On Thursday, Feb. 20, the Department of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS) announced the winning officers for the 2014-2015 Student Advisory Council (SAC). These included: Kristen Powell for president, Gabrielle Healy for vice president of media and communications, Neda Kikhia for vice president of alumni relations, Hannah Szabo for vice president of programming and events, and Charlotte Brasch and Zachary Sanfillipo for vice presidents of finance.
The election process began about a month ago with an email sent to AHSS students calling for nominations of potential officers, according to Kristin Kemp, director of community relations for AHSS.
“AHSS students could submit their own names or names of their peers for officer positions,” said Kemp. “After this, all AHSS students submitted applications and then were voted on by their peers.”
The voting was open to students for one week.
According to the SAC website, the council creates events to build relationships between AHSS students and faculty, increase awareness of AHSS student identity, generate feedback for events and improve student and university spirit.
The election announcements were made in conjunction with an AHSS Alumni and Employers Tell All event on Thursday, which featured alumni speakers giving advice about how AHSS students can utilize their liberal arts degrees.
“It might not be completely obvious that you can become an HR consultant with an English degree,” said Kemp. “The purpose [of the event] was to demonstrate the varied job opportunities after graduating.”
Speakers included two alumni: Susan McIntosh and Scott Beckett. McIntosh acquired her B.A. in English in 1987 and her M.S. in Linguistics. She currently works as a senior manager consultant at Sogeti U.S. According to their website, Sogeti provides business services in order to meet the needs of corporations in regards to the latest technologies.
The Tell All also featured Scott Beckett, who earned his B.A. in English in 1996 and his M.A. in Education in 1998. He currently works as a partner with Insigniam. According to their website, Insigniam works with large organizations in order to improve their management.
The Alumni and Employer Tell All began with the alumni explaining how they got to their current positions, and it was then followed by a question-and-answer session.
The event was part of a week-long Courses to Careers event series focused on giving AHSS students the tools they need to utilize their degrees, according to Kemp. The series also included a preparatory session for students on how to speak to employers at a Career Fair, hosted in Gates Field House on Wednesday, Feb. 19.
“Tuesday’s event was focusing on how to speak to employers at the Career Fair,” said Kemp. “[AHSS] students don’t always know that employers are looking for students with liberal arts degrees.”
