ILSSA is open access & free to join!

About ILSSA

Mission

ILSSA works to support and develop the intellectual, social, and professional development of undergraduate & graduate students, as well as postdocs in the field of Learning Sciences (LS) and Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) and within the International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS).

ILSSA was created for students, by students, and all student members of ISLS are automatically part of ILSSA regardless of paid membership status. Our aim is to complement existing ISLS student-focused initiatives and create a dedicated home for students within ISLS. We believe that ILSSA has a valuable role to play in supporting and establishing a robust community of emergent scholars that will propel future generations of LS and CSCL.

Goals

Create opportunities for dialogue through conferences, publications, websites, social networking sites, committees, and other member initiatives
Promote community, interdisciplinarity, and intellectual exchange among students
Advocate for and support active student engagement at ISLS conferences
Facilitate and support student programming at ISLS conferences in collaboration with the society and conference organizers
Work with ISLS Executive Board, committees, and members to advocate for student interests
Advocate for and support student-focused initiatives, such as mentorship, meet-ups, workshops, webinars, scholarships, and resources.

Committee ("Board") Membership

The members of ILSSA are ISLS student members in good standing. The committee strives to reflect the diversity of scholarly interests, gender identity, race, sexual orientation, geography, and student-status (stage in program) of the community. All positions are nominated/elected by the broader ILSSA/ISLS student/recent graduate each June/July.

Requirements & Expectations

All committee members must be members of ISLS in good standing at the time of election and for the duration of their terms. All elected members must be students when starting their term and should complete their term if they graduate before the end of their term.
All ILSSA Board positions are elected positions by ILSSA members and approved by the ISLS President.
With the exception of the Co-Chair role, all board positions are elected 1-year terms.
All ILSSA committee members are expected to also serve as the designated ILSSA representative on other ISLS committees.
All committee members are expected to regularly attend ILSSA meetings (typically monthly) and actively contribute to the committee.
Committee members can expect time commitments of approximately 1-4 hours per month, depending on the activities and needs of the committee (with the exception of the co-chairs who typically have a few monthly additional meetings to attend).

Board Positions & Duties

Co-Chair

It is expected that prospective co-chairs have prior participation as a committee member, when possible.

Duties include:

- Provide general leadership and coordination of ILSSA activities
- Liaise with the ISLS board and annual meeting organizers
- Attend ISLS board meetings as non-voting participants (typically monthly)
- Organize and lead ILSSA meetings on a regular basis (typically monthly)
- Prepare an annual report for the ISLS board

At least one co-chair will be expected to serve on the Annual Meeting Committee

Membership Chair

Duties include:

- Offer “quality assurance” for ILSSA initiatives (Highlight blind spots in as they relate to the lives of members, proofread public-facing materials)
- Support initiative deployment as needed to ensure inclusive participation (i.e. coordinating logistics, event management, promotion materials)
- Promote the ISLS student membership base
- Facilitate membership engagement on Discord, ILSSA's virtual gathering place
- Coordinate the ILSSA Mentoring Program Initiative (alongside the Education Chair)

Serves on the ISLS Membership Committee

Communications Chair

Duties include:

- Manage social media accounts
- Coordinate with ISLS communications (e.g., emails, newsletters, announcements)
- Help develop/create communications materials for use in virtual/in-person engagement
- Coordinate the monthly newsletter initiative
- Serve on the ISLS Communications Committee

Serves on the ISLS Communications Committee

Secretary

Duties include:

Recording and disseminating meeting minutes.
Sending reminders for upcoming meetings.
Maintaining ILSSA's internal meeting calendar.
Organization of ILSSA's electronic archives
Assisting in the preparation of the annual report
Coordinate the election process in coordination with co-chairs

Serves on the ISLS Publications Committee

Technology Chair (NEW)

Duties include:

- Maintaining the ILSSA website
- Promoting and managing the Discord
- Proposing, designing, testing, and implementing new technologies to improve the well-being and social connectedness of ILSSA and ISLS

Serves on the ISLS Technology Committee

Education Chair (NEW)

Duties include:

- Proposing, implementing, and revising educational resources for ILSSA (e.g. the “Hidden “Curriculum” of Academia Series)
- Coordinate the Mentoring Chats Initiative held hybrid during ICLS, in collaboration with the Education Committee
- Coordinating the Mentoring Program Initiative (alongside the Membership Programming Chair)

Serves on the ISLS Education Committee

Regional Representatives

There are four regional representative areas serving several geographical regions:

Asia-Pacific Regional Rep
Europe/UK Regional Rep
Central and South America Regional Rep
Africa and Middle East Regional Rep

Ideally, representatives must be a student of an institution based in the respective region at the start of their term. Currently, this includes reps who live in or whose work is based in the region.

Duties include:

- Represent regional perspectives, priorities, concerns, and initiatives
- Liaise with other Learning Sciences/CSCL organizations/groups, this includes proactively reaching out to organizations in respective regions
- Design and implement one regional initiative each year

Regional reps also serve on one of the following committees (specific assignments will vary depending on interest & fit):

- CSCL Community Committee
- Affiliates Program
- LMIC Action Group
- Equity and Justice Committee

Treasurer

Duties include:

- Maintaining financial records and associated documentation.
- Preparing financial records for the annual report
- Submitting expense claims/documentation to ISLS
- Coordinate the Annual Meeting Assistance Scholarship Initiative and Sticker Sales

Serves on the ISLS Finance Committee

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