I hope you enjoyed your December break. After traveling to Auckland and back for ICIS, it was nice to spend time with my family. I hope you enjoyed time with yours as well!

It was my first time at ICIS and I enjoyed meeting many of you at the SIG/chapter/colleges leadership meeting. I hope we answered all of your questions. If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact me.

I would be failing in my job if I didn't remind you that your AIS annual report is due on February 15. Please see the new and improved information below for further details.I think I just heard a collective roar of the crowd from the SIG/chapter/colleges community.

By now most of you are back to your institutions and either completing or starting a new academic term. It's a great time to set new goals for your group. Please consider having a goal setting meeting with your group's executive board.

Regards,

Patrick M. Dockins, MS

Component and External Relations Manager

[email protected]

Annual Report Due February 15, 2015!

The annual report is a great way for you to brag about the many successes of your group. We want to share in your successes and assist with your roadblocks. The annual report is a good indication of a group's health and assists the AIS staff in supporting your group.

If you have a lot to report on, great; we want to hear it! If you find your report is a little thin, that's okay. It's a new year and now is the time to set new goals!

CLICK HERE for the 2014 annual report form.

ABOUT THE REPORT

This year the form is a little different than past years. The form is a PDF that you can submit by clicking the "Submit" button at the end of the document. The data is then sent to our database where we can review it. Just download the form to your computer and start typing away.

An additional feature is that you can start and stop as you please, just make sure to save it first. You will need Adobe Reader to use this form. Click here for a free version.

The annual report will also act as your group's application for Outstanding SIG/chapter/college. The program is designed to recognize SIGs/chapters/colleges that do an outstanding job of supporting the mission of AIS through the advancement of knowledge and the promotion of excellence in the practice and study of information systems.

New SIGs and College

Please welcome three of AIS newest groups!

AIS Women's Network

The AIS Women's Network is a college of AIS. The purpose of the college is to promote a network for supporting women scholars in information systems, and to enable mentorship that expedites success of women in the information systems field.

Membership in The AIS Women's Network is open to anyone supportive of women in IS and who is a member of AIS in good standing. We will be adding the AIS Women's Network to the AIS website and online membership form soon.

SIGOPEN

SIGOPEN will provide a forum for members to discuss, develop, and promote a range of issues related to open research and practice.SIGOPEN is designed to be inclusive of researchers investigating and engaging in a wide variety of open phenomena and practices, but will initially focus on three core areas of interest: Peer Production of Knowledge Goods; Collective Intelligence, Action and Resources; Open Science and Education.

$10 membership fee

SIGC-CUBED (Complexity Causes, Changes, and Consequences)

This special interest group intends to provide an open platform for researchers and practitioners to share current views on information technology (IT) induced complexity and IT-enabled solutions for complexity. IT-induced complexity opens up a new horizon for IS researchers and practitioners to embrace a diverse set of theoretical and methodological approaches in understanding complex business systems. Complexity research in disciplines such as physics, biology, management, and organizational studies has demonstrated the value of complexity science in unifying previous fragmented theoretical views and methodological approaches and inspiring holistic understandings of their phenomena in interest.

$10 membership fee

Officer Information Updates

Updating AIS staff with new officer information is easier then ever. You can use the new online form!

Click here to submit updated officer information to AIS staff.

The link is also found on the SIG/chapter resources page under the "Forms and Reports" section. If you missed the updates to the website, see the information below.

Updated Website

If you haven't yet, please visit the newly updated SIG and chapter webpages on the AIS website. We hope you will find the information better organized and easier to find.

The officer resource page is now part of the drop down menu. This creates direct access to what you need as a SIG and chapter leader, which means no more digging around and searching for information! In addition, many of the paper forms have been converted to digital submission forms. We think this will make things easier for you to submit and provide us with quicker access to the new information.

Let us know what you think!

On the officer resource page you will find a link to a "How to" page. You can also get there by clicking here.

This will answer a number of questions on the administration of your SIG and chapter. If you don't see a "How to" that you think should be there, please let us know.

Group Pages

If you aren't familiar with the AIS group pages, now is the time to learn about them! Your AIS group page is your group's own personal website and collaboration area. It's a wonderful tool to collaborate and communicate with your SIGs and chapter members through:

Document sharing
Forum discussions
Group email (group admin only)
Photos
Group roster (group admin only)
Group directory
Group calendar
Blog
Profile updates

To learn how to access your group page go to the "How to" page by clicking here. We know that a number of SIGs and chapters maintain their own website. That is great, but we ask that you keep it updated and link to it from your AIS group page. This ensures that people can find your web page.

If you have any questions about accessing your group page, please review the "How to" page and then contact [email protected] if you don't find an answer to help you.