ALASC Poster Session at ALA 2024 in San Diego

ALASC is a student leadership group at San Jose State University that fosters involvement in the American Library Association’s activities and brings these ideas to the MLIS student body at the iSchool. The average ALASC officer serves about two semesters due to the short nature of our program, so elections are held twice a year to replace positions vacated by graduating members. How has ALASC addressed these turnover rates, maintained a high quality of work and commitment to the student body, and progressed our organization while essentially resetting our executive committee each semester?

ALASC has been able to accomplish this by implementing various measures and constitutional changes to ensure a smooth turnover. We plan not just for the present, but for the future of our organization. One of the measures ALASC has taken is amending our constitution to align with new initiatives. Over time, our needs as an organization change, and we encounter new challenges that require us to be agile. Amending the constitution is a meaningful way to accomplish that. Some of the examples of constitution amendments were efforts to increase diversity, equity, and inclusivity, such as implementing gender neutral language into the constitution and revising the title of webmaster to web coordinator. View a sample of our Constitution Here.

We have also created transitional documents for each position to ensure training is implemented for new members, as well as an elections checklist that ensures a smoother election process. View a sample of our transitional documents: Elections Checklist and Chair Handbook. View a sample of our election procedure documentation: Interviews Sign-Up Sheet and Interview Notes

We also streamlined executive committee meetings to require only officers and coordinators to attend. This initiative puts less stress on the organization as a whole, enabling meetings to be conducted with a lower quorum. Asynchronous voting was also approved to make it possible for officers to vote on matters outside of synchronous meetings. 

With these changes, we are able to better match skill sets to a role, as well as remain flexible during difficult election cycles. This enables us to maintain our organization’s structure and create an enduring foundation for future ALASC members without compromising integrity.

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