Another year come and gone

Dear fellow sSIG members,

We have come to the end of another school year and for the recent graduates, congratulations on finishing the long road! Additional congratulation to those who are one year closer to receiving the cap and gown! I write this letter to you all to serve as a summary of the efforts of the sSIG over the past year and the goals for 2012.

This past year was successful financially and in the growth of the sSIG. At the 2010 Annual Conference we were able to raise nearly $2000 for the sSIG through silent auction and dance competition events. Membership has steadily risen to nearly 200 over the past year with members of the sSIG across the country.

Additionally this year we have undertaken the task of rewriting the sSIG bylaws to reflect the ambitions and ideas of the growing sSIG membership. This rewrite, which will be posted to the blog in July, will reflect a change to increase local and state involvement in the sSIG. This initiative is to increase student awareness, knowledge and increase networking opportunities throughout the year in addition to the opportunities at conference. As a member of the sSIG, contact the vice-president Ryan Wooderson at rgwooderson@gmail.com to determine if there is a state representative in your state, if we still need leadership in your area you are encouraged to become more involved in your state!

One major change you may have noticed is the change in elections for the executive and leadership teams. Previous years elections were held online during March, however we have moved elections to occur during the month of October during Annual Conference. If you are interested in holding an elected position for the 2011-2012 year look into the position descriptions on the blog and plan on attending Annual Conference from October 26-30, 2011 in Disneyland!

Another initiative began this year was a discussion to include AAOMPT’s Annual conference with APTA Combined Sections Meeting and APTA Annual Conference as options for physical therapy programs that have conference attendance graduation requirements. This is currently in the discussion stage but if you have a conference attendance graduation requirement contact us for information and materials.

We always welcome your advice, suggestions and ideas to continue to move towards our vision. For more information about annual conference, the sSIG please follow our blog at http://ssigaaompt.blogspot.com or on www.aaompt.org. For questions for the Leadership team contact our email at ssigaaompt@gmail.com.

Emily Hoke

University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

President sSIG AAOMPT