SIGUCCS User Support Academy

Abstract

One of the main criticisms from campus administration of attending the annual SIGUCCS conference is, what is the quantitative value to the sending organization of an employee's attendance? The real value of SIGUCCS membership and its annual conference has always been the career development, networking and personal growth provided by meeting with industry peers who encourage, inspire, and motivate you to improve yourself in your chosen profession. But managers need a business reason to justify expenditures. Generally, administrators consider payroll enough motivation to perform well on the job. Professional development that isn't directly connected to skill-based training continues to fail to see support. Recognizing this, I propose including the SIGUCCS Academy in association with the annual member conference. A series of conference tracks that will provide skill-based training for user support services to act as anchor content providing business reasons for administration to approve attendance. These attendees will then be able to attend conferences and experience the personal growth that being a member of a professional association provides. This paper will outline proposed course content and provide a framework that will create a self-sustainable process that will allow the academy to persist from conference to conference.