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Student Council Advisory Committee (SCAC) Report Spring 2006

The purpose of the ADA Student Council is to increase involvement of ADA student members by creating opportunities for leadership. Leadership is provided by the Student Council Advisory Committee (SCAC) composed of eight student officers, including the student delegate, CADE student rep and student member on the Member Value Committee.

Planning for Student Forum for FNCE 2006
The SCAC hosted a very successful and well attended Student Forum in St. Louis last year. They have since begun to plan the Student Forum sessions for FNCE 2006 in Honolulu, HI. The SCAC created a questionnaire that was distributed to approximately 100 Student Dietetic Association (SDA) presidents, as well as 27 Student Council Liaisons (SCLs) in early February. This questionnaire was designed to assess interest, possible attendance, funding efforts, sessions of interest, and additional information regarding FNCE 2006. With this information they have determined when and how to structure the Student Forum.

Student Council Community of Interest (CoI) and ADA Student Scoop
Each SCAC officer monitors and contributes to the Student Council Community of Interest (CoI), stimulating discussions, responding to questions, and posting items to the calendar. Both spring 2006 Mega Issue Reports and related documents have been posted on the CoI and discussions facilitated by our student delegate. New student members are invited to join the CoI and the number of students joining the CoI continues to grow.

The March issue of the ADA Student Scoop has been posted to the Careers and Students section of the ADA Web site. The Scoop includes a variety of articles written by SCAC officers and members. The current issue can be read at online.

SCAC Communications with Students in Dietetics Programs
The SCAC continues to be committed to the recruitment of new student members and is pleased to note the increase in student members from approximately 9,600 to 11,200 (January 2005 – January 2006), which is a 17% increase. The SCAC continues to seek ways to communicate with students about the benefits of ADA membership.

On March 20, 2006 the spring educator mailing went out to all directors of CADE-accredited dietetics education programs. This mailing included a flyer entitled ‘What’s New this Year and Why Join?’ to inform both educators, and students, of updates from ADA. This flyer included information on voting and leadership opportunities for students within ADA, preliminary FNCE information and deadlines, as well as an update on both the Student Council and CoI. Ongoing communications with Student Clubs is occurring through a network of Student Council Liaisons (SCLs).

Student Council Liaisons (SCLs)
The SCAC is continuing to solicit students to expand the SCL network. Currently, there are 27 SCLs. Several SCLs leaving their program have turned over the position to a new student. The SCAC vice chair sent an e-mail, from the Student Council mailbox, to all SCLs in mid February. This e-mail included important information such as reinforcing the SCL program of work, encouraging SCLs to continue to provide information on SDA activities and relay ADA initiatives back to their SDAs. The SCAC vice chair also requested submissions and ideas for the ADA Student Scoop and participation on postings on the CoI.

SCLs have been working on the three focus areas: (1) student member recruitment and involvement with ADA, (2) connecting with State Professional Recruitment Coordinators (SPRCs) on the affiliate level to assist in career fairs, and (3) encouraging campus and community outreach within the student clubs on-campus as seen in their monthly updates to ADA’s Manager, Careers and Student Services. Summaries of these reports are shared with other student members through the Student Scoop newsletter, CoI discussions and CoI documents.

SCAC Nominating Committee and 2006 Election
The SCAC Nominating Committee (five officers) worked from December through the end of February on selecting the ballot for the 2006 SCAC elections. Twenty nomination packets were received and scored for the seven elected 2006-2007 SCAC positions (chair, vice-chair, delegate and four student reps) and one of the applicants was appointed as the CADE student representative. Voting for the 2006-07 SCAC nominees took place on ADA’s Web site through March 31, 2006. Election results were posted on the Student Council CoI on April 4, 2006 and on ADA’s Web site on April 10, 2006.

Student Council Advisory Committee (2006-2007)
Chair: Kama Blankenship, University of Texas Southwestern CP
Vice Chair: Bridget Curley, North Dakota State University CP
Student Delegate: Katherine Schluter, University of California – Berkeley DPD
CADE Representative: Christine Clarahan, Iowa State University DPD
Student Rep: Anthony Marzuillo, New York Institute of Technology DPD
Student Rep: Corissa Stephens, Olivet Nazarene University DPD
Student Rep: Evelyn Carbery, University of the District of Columbia DPD
Student Rep: Jessica Niblock, University of Kentucky DPD/MS
Staff: Michèle Turcotte, MS, RD, LDN

Submitted by: Christopher Wharton, 2005-2006 SCAC Chair and Michèle Turcotte, ADA Staff (mturcotte@eatright.org or 800/877-1600 ext. 4870).

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