STUDENT AFFAIRS

Committee Update

Caryn M. Berg

Welcome back from the summer! As I began my last year as chair of the Student Affairs Committee, I realized that many SAA members may not be aware of the people and activities that comprise this committee. The primary goal of the Student Affairs Committee is to work towards the integration of students into the Society for American Archaeology. We have attempted to do this through building a network of students across the country and through such avenues as the Annual Meeting and the Bulletin.

The Committee

The Student Affairs Committee consists of a committee chair and seven members. All members are graduate students (or recent graduates) in archaeology. To contact members of the committee, email me at bergcm@ucsub.colorado.edu, or visit the Student Affairs web page (www.saa.org/Organization/Committees/student_aff.html).

Campus Representatives Network

The Campus Representatives Network is a network of volunteers at institutions nationwide who serve as liaisons between the Student Affairs Committee and their home departments. Volunteers in the network have increased to 33 representatives at 32 universities. Over the past few years, we have used the network to advertise jobs to students, keep students up to date about attending the Annual Meeting, solicit information for SAA and maintain general communication with SAA student members. To serve as a campus representative, see the job description on page 18.

Fulfilling Committee Goals

One of the most important goals of the committee is to serve the students of SAA and to work towards the integration of the students into the society; we have pursued this goal in a variety of ways.

The SAA Bulletin

Since September 1996, the Student Affairs Committee has published a column in every issue of the Bulletin providing useful information to students that will aid them in both their education and careers in archaeology. Articles published thus far are "Writing Symposium Abstracts" (September 1996), "Getting Graphic! Making an Effective Poster" (November 1996), "Presenting: What an Experience!" (January 1997), "Getting Your First Job in Cultural Resource Management: A Practical Guide for Students" (March 1997), "The World Wide Web: It's Not Just for Surfing Anymore" (May 1997), "Applying to Graduate School and Finding Funding" (September 1997), "Preparing for a Job in Academic Teaching" (November 1997), "Attending the Annual Meeting" (January 1998), and "Choosing a Field School" (March 1998).

These articles also are linked to the Student Affairs page of the SAA web page (www.saa.org/Organization/Committees/SAC/sac_bulletin.html). Several new articles are planned for this year, and the committee always welcomes new article ideas.

The Annual Meeting

At the Annual Meeting, the Student Affairs Committee has sponsored a series of workshops since 1994. In the past two years, these workshops have included "Writing and Publishing Your Dissertation or Thesis," "Surviving Graduate School" (1998); "Increasing Your Chances: The Perfect Curriculum Vita and Cover Letter," "Academia and CRM," "Funding Graduate School," "Ethics and Archaeology," and "Designing a Large Field Project" (1997).

Like the Bulletin articles, the goal of these workshops is primarily to be informative, while putting students in touch with professionals in academia, publishing, and CRM.

Until 1998, the workshops were the primary event for the Student Affairs Committee at the Annual Meeting. This year, the committee sponsored its first invited symposium, "Interdisciplinary Approaches to Archaeology," which was comprised of select papers presented by students in archaeology. We were encouraged by the success of the symposium and hope to sponsor similar symposia at every Annual Meeting.

The symposium for 1999, "Constructing Social Identities: Gender, Ethnicity, and Status in the Archaeological Record," will feature an excellent selection of papers derived from current student research in archaeology. Our goal with these symposia is to encourage students to not only attend the Annual Meeting, but to present their research.

Overall, the Student Affairs Committee has been encouraged by the response we have received over the past three years and our enthusiasm continues to grow. For further information on the committee, please contact me or any of the committee members.

Caryn M. Berg, chair of the Student Affairs Committee, is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

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