OTSC Meeting Agenda
Monday, March 24, 2014
INTERNAL BUSINESS
1. Meeting dates and locations for this semester:
- Monday, April 14th at 4:00pm-5:30pm in CHP 112
2. Recent Events Debrief:
- T-Shirt Sales - Lori reported that we have made about $500 on t-shirt and tote bag sales, and we are still in the process of collecting money from pre-orders. There are also more shirts and bags to sell.
- OTAC Mixer at CPK - Alyssa reported that this was a great, cozy mixer with representatives with USC, Cal State-Dominguez Hills, and West Coast University. Plans were made to go to together the Abilities Expo that took place the next day. Alyssa also shared that West Coast University is a new OT program in the Los Angeles area. Carlos and Alyssa added that they are now in touch with the OTAC representative from Loma Linda, so we look forward to planning events with them.
- Gary Karp Event - Colin let everyone know that this dynamic speaker was well-attended by about 40-50 people. The event was sponsored by PT.
- Interdisciplinary Bowling Night - Kristen reported that the event, held in El Monte, was a lot of fun.
- Cabin Trip - Clarissa reported that the cabin trip was a lot of fun. The weather conditions were a little harrowing because it was raining in LA and snowing on the way to the mountain, but that meant there was great snow, and everyone had a great time together.
3. OTSC Goals for Semester
- Critical to success this semester = forming sub-committees
- Take initiative to form small planning groups to meet more frequently throughout the semester
4. Continue to update “Council Duties by Position”
- Reminder: Update your “Council Duties by Position” Google Doc all throughout the year. Things you might want to include:
Important dates/deadlines
- Events related to your position
- Names/phone numbers/email addresses of important contacts
5. “COMING UP ROSES” 100% INITIATIVE - Dr. Rafeedie shared that she is a member of the committee preparing for a float in the Rose Parade in 2017. Ideas include having clients and community members participate in the. We need $300K by March of 2016 to enter the competition. At AOTA next week in Baltimore, Philip and Colin will get the word out for this event. If every student gives just a few dollars, we will be well on our way. Please spread the word to other campuses and active practitioners around the world.
- Colin reported that we would like to have 100% participation at USC. How do we get all 240 students at USC to contribute?
- Kristy suggested that we set the goal of having everyone donate at least a dollar for this initiative by the end of OT Month. Two reps from each first-year cohort will be in charge of collecting funds.
- A - Layla & Phillip
- B - Kristy & Kayla
- C - Yasi & Karen
- Jen suggested that Dr. Bream and Dr. Rafeedie add the link to donate to the initiative to the bottom of the email signature.
6. OT Month Action Committee Update - Colin reported that there a lot of events going on this month. (Megan will email more info.)
- Autism Awareness Month
- Swim with Mike on Saturday, April 5 - Jonathan and Megan reported that this event is a 34-hour marathon when someone must always be in the pool. Our biggest challenge is getting people to sign up. Someone from each cohort will have people make announcements during classes, preferably with the Google doc open for folks to sign up. We are looking for two-hour shifts with two people on each shift.
- Be Well Wellness Fair on Wednesday, April 16 (Noon to 2:00pm) - Kristy reported that this event will be going on in the Pappas Quad. There will be food trucks, activities like zumba, yoga, or ballet, massages, and occupational therapy services geared at stress relief and lifestyle redesign. Contact Kristy Seaver for more info. We are working on getting the therapy dogs there. We are the only department having a big presence at the event. Please come stop by during lunch.
- Charity Miles - Samar and Megan reported that Charity Miles is a phone app that donates $0.25 per mile hiked. We would like to promote the downloading of this app.
- Intercollegiate Mixer on Friday, April 25 - Loma Linda is looking forward to the event. We are planning on a park in the Brea area. We are planning to split the cost for burgers, and then do potluck for sides.
- Lunch and Listen for the Podcast - Alyssa
EXTERNAL BUSINESS
- Kinesiotaping Event on Friday, April 4 - Yasi spoke about this event which will take place at the OT House. (Yasi will email more info.)
- Kinesiotaping Event presented by George Toth-Fejel OTR/L, HTC, SW, CKP will be on Saturday, April 5th from 9:00 AM to noon at the OT house Activity Room (Centennial Apartments near UPC). The cost is $10-15. Please contact george.toth@ventura.org to see if there is additional space.
- Local Families Need Basic Furniture and Appliances (Ongoing) - Local promotoras are working with Latino families with children that are receiving regional center services. Many of these families have a desperate need for basic furniture and appliances. If you or someone you know is looking to get rid of mattresses, bed frames, box springs, linens, refrigerators, etc. that are still in good working condition please contact Alyssa Concha at aconcha@usc.edu.
COUNCIL ITEMS
1) AOTA (Colin & Phillip):
Discussion
- OT Float in Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena
- Colin reported about this event. In 2017, it will be Occupational Therapy’s 100th Birthday! To celebrate, we are setting a massive long-term goal of entering an OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY FLOAT into the Tournament of Roses® Parade in Pasadena on New Year’s day! This will certainly contribute to our widely recognized goals established in the Centennial Vision…and is an excellent opportunity to be globally connected, as this parade is on television all around the world where MILLIONS of people will be watching!
- Goal: To raise money for the float. We need about $300,000 by March of 2016, and we have close to $9000 right now.
- Year 2 Tues: Clarissa and Megan
- Year 2 Thur AM: Samar
- Year 2 Thur PM: Colin
- AOTA Conference, April 3-6, Baltimore, MD. Colin reported that this will be an incredible event. He encouraged everyone - even if you are not attending - to check to web site for updates and information. Colin and Phillip will be posting frequent Facebook updates on the event.
- Congratulations to Phillip on his new position with AOTA.
2) Faculty Liaison (Kristy & Jen S.):
Update
- Discussed many things at last faculty meeting, including Women’s Health Symposium, faculty said they would be interested in participating next year. We said we would keep in touch with them as the planning continues.
- Discussed Faculty/Student events and asked for feedback from them; they enjoyed having 2-3 faculty members and the happy hour, as well as letting the faculty pick their own activity.
- The faculty loved our new design for t-shirts and tote bags.
- Another faculty meeting is coming up this Friday, March 28th. Let us know if there is something you would like us to bring up!
3) Fundraising (Lori & Kristina):
Update
- OTSC Merchandise will be available starting Thursday, 3/37. An email will be sent out this week regarding times and days to pick up merchandise. We ordered a small amount of extra shirts and bags for additional sales.
- Estimated profits (after non-presale orders are sold): $551
- Will consider ordering shirts/tanks/totes at end of semester to sell to new incoming students during summer…
- Clipboards: There has been a delay in clipboards due to complications with the manufacturing company. After I submitted an order for a sample and got the clipboards and imprint approved, I was told that the clipboard company can only print information on half of the clipboard. I am now currently seeking another company to go through since I was misinformed.
4) GSG Senator (Cindy & Casey):
Update
- Cindy attended the Legislative Action Day sponsored by the National Graduate Student Association in Washington, D.C. on March 1-4. USC was represented by six students from the GSA Senate. Due to a snowstorm, our meetings were cancelled on Monday, March 3rd; however, we met with representatives from Rep. Brantley and Rep. Cardenas’ office on Tuesday morning. The main topics of discussion were graduate student debt and the expansion of the H1-B visa program for graduate and professional students.
- Forum on graduate student debt being planned by the judiciary subcommittee in April at UPC. Details TBA.
5) Historian (Leila & Amanda):
Update
- We will be shooting a promo video for the End of the Year Party this weekend. Our goal is to air the video in class and through the Facebook class pages the week of April 7.
- We are in the process of creating a dummy Facebook profile for people to help make the photo sharing process easier with the slide show.
6) International Affairs (Monica):
Update
- Saturday, April 12, 2014 9:30-12:30 at the Center for Occupation and Lifestyle Redesign
- Please carpool as this is the same weekend as the LA Times Festival of Books (parking may be difficult)
- Dr. Sharon Cermak & Dr. Gelya Frank will be speaking at the event
- Still need a couple more second years (who traveled internationally for externship) for panel
- Food Budget approved for light breakfast and international-themed lunch (thanks, treasurers!)
- Office of Academic & International Fellowships & Projects Abroad provided magazines/pamphlets
- Free Raffle for gift certificates to restaurants, to shops, and for tango lessons
- Please RSVP & invite friends on facebook if you are going! :)
7) MA1 representative (Samar):
Discussion
- Several students have commented that OT students do not have a lounge while other departments have lounges for their students. I am not aware if this has been discussed before but can OTSC presents this request to the department. Dr. Rafeedie discussed bringing this up at the faculty meeting. Kristy and Jen S. will bring this up at the next faculty meeting.
- Communication Chair on OTSC! This is a suggestion and would love to hear your thoughts. OTAC has a communication chair on their leadership board and was wondering if such position would be beneficial to OTSC. Communication chair would be responsible for an OTSC newsletter as well as help create coordinated efforts between different chairs about the different activities organized by OTSC.
- Jen suggested that the Secretaries and Historians take on this role. If there are gaps, we should find people
- Kristy mentioned that the Historians do all of the social media stuff.
- Yasi reminded everyone that there is a bulletin board in the mailbox room.
8) OTAC (Alyssa & Carlos):
Discussion
- OTAC Student mixer (a success!)
- OTAC Symposium - Alyssa reported that there were a number of students in attendance.
- OTAC Flash Subcommittee - Submission deadline: April 4th to allow for a week of edits. Distribution: Week of April 14th. Job descriptions:
- Editor (1 Southern California and 1 Northern California editor) - Responsibilities include requesting submissions, compiling into 1-page flyer, editing for grammar.
- Contributor - Responsibilities include either reaching out to other students and collect submissions (e.g. photos, opinions, articles) or submitting their own work.
- Activity & Event Liaison - Responsibilities include compiling all of the events and activities for their school/region (i.e. student fundraiser, awareness event, legislative receptions, etc.) and submitting a list with dates to local editor
- Distributor - Responsibilities include emailing to local student list-serve, printing and posting on local bulletin, distributing hard copies to student (if available)
- Student Track at the OTAC Annual Conference (October 16-19 in Pasadena) - Alyssa and Carlos are currently working with other OTAC delegates and committee members to create the student track for the annual conference in October. They would love to get input from our classmates:
- On topics for sessions they would like to see
- Areas of interest
- Any connections/know anyone doing research or some type of community project, that would like to present.
9) OT House (Allison)
Update: For April, an OT Month poster will be displayed in the buildings elevator to spread awareness among the non-OT students at the OT house.
10) Philanthropy (Jonathan & Megan):
Update
- Please PARTICIPATE in and help ADVERTISE our OT Month activities!
- Charity Miles: download the app to your smart phone today! We will tally April mile$ at the end of the month!
- Swim with Mike: SIGN UP - relay starts April 4! We need you
11) Professional Development (Karen & Stacy):
Update
- We have 3 student/faculty events coming up!
- Saturday, 4/19- Hike in Griffith Park with Dr. Roll and Dr. Leland
- Tuesday 4/22- Happy hour at Barbara’s at the Brewery with Drs. Bream, Halle, Daley, Snyder, and Kingsley
- Monday 4/28- Drs. Winder, Pyatak, and Diertele
- We will be emailing out sign ups in the next few weeks!
12) PTE Representative (Jen S):
Discussion
- OT Extravaganza on Saturday, March 29 (9:30am to 2:30pm) - Jen reported that there will be food, speakers and an art competition. She encouraged everyone to come by.
13) Secretary (Leah & Laura)
Update: Both Leah and Laura will miss the next meeting on April 14. Molly will fill in as secretary during that meeting.
14) Social Chair (Kristin & Clarissa):
Discussion
- Volunteers Needed to Sell Tickets - Ticket sales volunteers needed for the end of the year party. This will begin on April 7. Two volunteers are needed per cohort. Please turn in the money weekly to Jordi. Amanda is planning to create a promotional video to premiere in class on the opening day of ticket sales, April 7, and to post on Facebook. “Such Great Heights” will be the title of the party and the title of the video.
- Cohort A - Kristen & Phillip
- Cohort B - Kristy
- Cohort C - Carlos
- Year 2 Tues: Clarissa & Megan
- Year 2 Thur AM: Samar
- Year 2 Thur PM: Alyssa & Amanda
15) Treasurer (Molly & Mazelle):
Update: International Forum budget has been approved by GSG.
