1. Northern Illinois University
Public Administration Student Association
Executive Committee Meeting
November 19, 2009
Minutes
Cal to Order
President Jarret Byrne called the meeting to order at 2:02.
Present: President Jarrett Byrne, Vice President Alex Barkley, Secretary Inga Jacobson,
Appointed Member Christina Collison, and Faculty Advisor Dr. Kim Nelson.
Call Ins: MPA Coordinator Samantha Fisher
Secretary’s Report
A.Barkley moved to approve the minutes. C. Collison seconded and the motion carried.
Social Committee Report
A. Barkley reported that no responses were received after the newsletter announcement
asking for social activity ideas. There is a place in Batavia, IL that offers many indoor
activities for a possible spring event.
Lucy Carter Smith offered her house for an event. NIU may be in a bowl game for
football on December 4, 2009, and she offered to have everyone over for that. This
event would be contingent on whether NIU makes it to a bowl game and the timing of
finding out the decision. Discussion followed and it was decided to not pursue this
event due to planning difficulties. However, L. Carter Smith’s house may be utilized for
another event.
C. Collison said it would be a good idea to have a welcome back event at the beginning
of the semester. J. Byrne offered his parents house in Yorkville, IL. S. Fisher said two
full-time and one part-time students are entering the program for the Spring semester.
A. Barkley stated an end of semester event would be held at The Beehive in St.
Charles, IL on December 11, 2009. An e-mail would be sent out soon with the details.
Soliciting Student Feedback
K. Nelson the professors had no problem with people coming in to classrooms with
index cards to gather feedback. The faculty did specify that a representative of PASA
should go to every class. If someone from the executive committee could not attend,
the faculty asked to have a designated representative attend to gather ideas. The
faculty expected that we use the same methods used in PSPA 601 and PSPA 604 to
gather the data. They also wanted to caution the committee not to let individuals create

2. PA Student Association November 19, 2009
double responses. Students should also understand they should not complain about
individual instructors using this type of forum.
The committee decided to collect feedback the week after Thanksgiving. In the future,
the faculty wants the executive committee to wait until after midterms (nine weeks or
later).
Gathering colloquium ideas will be separate from the index cards. The colloquium is
usually an online vote. The index cards will just be for figuring out what exactly the
executive committee needs to work on.
K. Nelson would like the committee to draft up an announcement for representatives to
use when they go to each class so everyone says the same thing. She will then run it
by S. Fisher and Dr. Kurt Thurmeier, Division Director. K. Nelson recommended
sending e-mails out to the professors so they know we will be doing this during the
week after Thanksgiving.
The committee divided up classes amongst members and other students in the
program.
The committee decided that it wouldn’t be detrimental if students responded multiple
times in different classes as long as they don’t say the same thing twice.
Spring Colloquium Update
Dr. Mayhew was not in attendance to update the committee.
J. Byrne said we need to start looking for colloquium ideas for next year as well.
Angel Tree Project (per Dr. Thurmaier)
Details: http://il‐ilcma.civicplus.com/CurrentEvents.aspx?EID=262
C. Collison decided to participate in the project on her own this year. She stated one
way to approach this is by pairing people up to do one angel tag. K. Nelson said the
faculty does something similar. June Kubasiak, Office Manager, collects the money,
decides how many angel tags to get, and then she goes shopping.
C. Collison said this year an announcement could go out to let fellow students know
about the program. J. Kubasiak stated she would collect money from students, but it
needed to be to her by December 2.
K. Nelson said next year at the beginning of the fall we could start taking a collection.
C. Collison will draft something to send to the students.
K. Nelson pointed out that this project would apply to our philanthropic efforts as a
student organization.

3. PA Student Association November 19, 2009
J. Byrne also suggested at some point sending care packages to deployed soldiers. K.
Nelson said the best way to do this would be to get in touch with chaplains.
Open Discussion
C. Collison suggested bringing in Dr. Greg Kuhn for an event. He could speak about
job applications, hiring, etc. K. Nelson thought it would be a good idea to have a panel
about this topic and to have other alums participate.
J. Byrne thought this could be marketed as a Professional Development Activity. If it
could be approved as a PDA event, then it would help to increase attendance. S.
Fisher stated that as long as it’s more than just a social mixer, then it is usually
accepted.
K. Nelson said we would have to market it a lot in order to get good attendance even if it
is a PDA event. There was the suggestion of having it in Naperville or somewhere
centrally located. One suggestion was to have it in a conference room of an alum or in
the same municipality as the speaker. This will be on the agenda for the next meeting.
The social committee will work to put everything together.
Next Meeting
The PASA will not be meeting until after the winter break.
Adjournment:
C. Collison moved to adjourn. I. Jacobson seconded it and the motion carried. Meeting
adjourned at 3:01 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Inga Jacobson
PA Student Association Secretary