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USITT@PSU- 2007-2008 Presidential Plan of Action and Review of Past Year
Presented by: President Stephanie Riddle
September 9th, 2007
Introduction and Review
Philanthropy
Service
Advocacy
Social Activities
Fundraising
Other Activities
Conclusion
Introduction and Review
The 2006-2007 school year was very successful for our USITT student chapter. With a strong executive board and the help of our immediate past President, we were able to accomplish many of our goals and put our organization in a great position to start this new academic year. Our Fall t-shirt sale was incredibly successful and helped to raise money to fund numerous events and projects throughout the rest of the year. In October, Penn State hosted the USITT Ohio Valley section conference and our organization successfully provided the support needed to make the conference run smoothly. Improving our philanthropy efforts was one of our goals for last year, and we did just that through our support of Behind the Scenes. Additionally, our joint efforts with the School of Theatre brought about changes with THON, and we had a great time supporting Rachel while she danced for 46 hours. The USITT National Conference was held in March in Phoenix, Arizona and once again our chapter held great presence with 27 undergraduate students in attendance. With the UPAC travel allocation of $5000, the maximum possible allocation, we were able to pay for all of our hotel costs for the entire week. Our chapter was also responsible for organizing and hosting a Penn State Alumni event at the conference. Concessions were once again one of our largest fundraisers and continue to be a positive way for us to support the School of Theatre as well as our own organization.
Although we had many other big ideas, it often takes more than just a year of discussion and planning to put them all into action. Last year was a great starting point for the planning of various new fundraisers and events that we can further progress on this year.
In the coming academic year, we need to build upon the successes of last year and help our chapter to maintain its already excellent reputation. In addition, it is important to continue our goals of education and networking, and focus our activities on philanthropy, service, advocacy and social events.
Philanthropy
THON and Behind the Scenes were our major philanthropic activities of the past year. Our support of THON continued from the previous year with pledging and canning weekends, and also joined forces with the School of Theatre in order to be even more beneficial to the cause. In our first year of support of Behind the Scenes and were able to donate $300 to the organization. Though we have evaluated our participation and decided as an organization to no longer host a THON team, we will still be in support of the School of Theatre team and I plan to do whatever I can to help them in their efforts. I would like to see our philanthropic efforts focused more strongly on Behind the Scenes, and I plan to develop new ideas with the help of the organization that will lead us to provide larger donations to the cause.
Service
A large part of our student chapter is not only to benefit us now, but to use our efforts, knowledge, and abilities to further the education and experience of those around us and those coming after us. Our high school outreach education program began detailed planning this past Spring. This should be our main focus of service for the Fall semester, and I hope to host the program as soon as feasibly possible with planning, recruitment of students and scheduling availability. The program’s focus should be to further the education of high school students in basic technique and design for theater as well as promote safety and help students to explore options within the field.
I also hope to find other service opportunities within the School of Theatre and the university where we can provide our skills to help our fellow students.
Advocacy
Our student chapter of USITT is the largest and most active organization within the students of the School of Theatre. This gives us the ability to represent student needs and wants as a group through many outlets. Currently, we have at least two students that are a part of the School of Theatre Student Advisory Board. This is a great way for us to give input to the people who make many decisions affecting our education and future careers. Because of this, our organization should be an outlet to for students in BFA Design and Technology and Stage Management to discuss any issues that they may feel are affecting their experience with the School of Theatre.
Also, it is very important for us to educate others within the university and outside of the university as to what our organization is and what we do. We have taken action to display design work and information boards at concessions sales, which is a great way to reach the general public that attends our shows. I hope to continue this and encourage members to be more vocal about our efforts as a student chapter and USITT as a national organization.
Social Activities
One focus of our organization that can often easily be overlooked is socializing. We are a group of people with common interests that come together, many already as friends, to work towards many goals. It is important for us to take time to enjoy what we have and get to know new members and the others that we work closely with for all of our college years. Things such as bowling nights and picnics are always popular, and I feel that we should continue with other events such as group dinners, movie nights and group outings to places we’ve visited in the past such as Harner Farms. It is important in our profession to get to know the people that you are working with and develop the best possible relationship inside and outside of a work situation.
Fundraising
The Fall apparel sale and our concessions sales were the main efforts of fundraising from the past year. We raised enough money to be able to do many exciting things such as the conference alumni event, and also to purchase much needed items such as cashboxes and materials for a new concession stand. The organization ended the year in a very sturdy financial state which will allow us to begin the year without financial stresses. We plan to continue our concession sales which are always profitable, as well as implement a few new fundraising ideas. One of our major plans for the coming year is to implement and maintain a Café Press apparel website. The site allows us to design apparel and sell it through a website while receiving a percentage of the profit. I would also like to act on any new and exciting fundraising ideas from our members.
Other Activities
Annual Conference
Last year, the annual USITT conference in Phoenix, AZ was a huge success. With 27 undergraduate students in attendance, we held a great presence that was originally unexpected. Though the conference is once again quite a distance, I encourage everyone that is able to take advantage of this great educational and networking opportunity. As always, we as an organization will do whatever possible to assist the process of conference planning and travel.
Alumni Contact Network
A project two years in the making, I plan to make the Alumni Contact Network a large focus of our chapter this year. The network is a huge benefit for current students looking for advice, jobs or other information. I would like to have a fully operational network in place by the end of the year, and continue to promote contact between alumni and current students in the interim.
Student Chapter Constitution
A project of the organization’s officers and executive board for the upcoming year is to edit our constitution to contain the changes and progresses that we have made in the past year and more. It is important to keep this document up to date and we feel that it should be at the forefront of our efforts this year. I plan to leave the organization in the spring with a constitution that reflects the current rules and standards of the organization at that time.
Conclusion
This year is sure to be exciting and eventful. This plan of action is merely a basis for us to build upon as the year progresses. I invite and encourage all of you to discuss ideas with me at any time, and to be an active part of this organization to make it the best and most productive year yet.
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