Tuesday, August 12, 2014

First General Meeting Overview

Hey All!

The first SAA General Meeting was held this evening. Just in case any of you missed the meeting and wanted to know what all took place, this is what was gone over:
  • Introductions - At the beginning of the meeting everyone went around and introduced themselves, told us interesting facts about themselves, and helped us put faces to names. This was something we really wanted to do at orientation and it just never happened.  
  • Money Stuff - Next Adriel, the SAA Treasurer for this year, got up and talked about dues. It is not a requirement that you are a paying member to participate in SAA activities or attend meetings, but it's highly suggested. As Adriel pointed out, it takes money to be able to host events and be advocates for this profession so being a member really helps out with functions. Dues are $20 for this school year until September 27th and then $25 after that. You can also pay $60 for all four years and not worry about having to pay anymore. After September 27th the dues will go up because we have to submit a portion of the dues to the National Level Group, the AAOA.You can pay these with any method of payment, cash, check, debit/credit card, or even give us your paypal email and we can request the money from you that way.
  • Merchandise - We are selling left over SAA merch from last year and taking orders for new stuff. We are currently offering the LMU DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine shirt in gray for $15 and the I Heart My D.O. shirts in white for $15. They both come in a crew neck or v-neck variety. We also have hoodies, long sleeve shirts, and the blue LMU shatterproof ornaments available for order. We can absolutely SHIP THESE! Please let us know if you would like to purchase anything.
    (PS The Red circles are not on there, that was just for designing purposes)

  • First Year Liaisons - In our next September General meeting we will be asking for volunteers of who would like to run for First Year Liaison. There are two spots for this position. If only two people are interested then we will not have elections. If more are interested we will ask that you submit a short bio to dcomsaa@gmail.com and we will put together a time to vote for who you would like to represent the first year spouses as your two liaisons for the 2014-2015 school year. As a liaison you will attend the board meetings on the first Tuesday of each month, and give your input on how we can best serve the first years as well as the rest of the DCOM student body. If you're interested in running for the Board next year, this is a great opportunity to learn how meetings are run and what the true duties of your SAA Board are all about. The only requirement for this is that you be a First Year Spouse, and you also have to be a dues paying member.

  • Job Opportunities - We talked tonight about job opportunities in the area and different resources for how to find employment. That information we discussed can be found below:
    ___________________________________________________________________


Job Opportunity Information

Ted Booth
LMU Main Campus - Director of Career Services
DAR-Whitford Hall Office 211 (Located in the Frank White Academy building next to the baseball field)
423.869.6017 

He has been notified that there are spouses new to the area looking for jobs. He to know that if anyone needs some specific help he can work with them personally and help them in their search.

Alternative Options for Finding Jobs
·         On the main LMU website there is website for the Office Ted runs. It can be found at http://www.lmunet.edu/campuslife/careerplanning/jobs.shtml under the campus life section of the main website. Here there are many links and resources for finding and applying to jobs in the area.
·         There is also an LMU Office of Career Services Facebook page where they post job openings when they find them and/or are notified of different positions.
·         You can always check the newspaper for openings
·         There is a community board at the post office here in Harrogate across from Gondolier that has different job openings, but it is also used for all kinds of ads people want to share.

Current Job Openings
SHADES OF DEVELOPMENT, a school in Knoxville, TN is in need of after school teachers. LEAD Teachers: Working on Master's and wanting a part-time job, they are hiring for HOURS: 2-6 pm.
ASSISTANT Teachers: Working on Bachelor's and needing a part-time job, they are hiring for the same 2-6pm
Contact: Stacey Duncan 865.934.7361
www.shadesofdevelopment.org


      Charter is currently looking for broadband installers. You can apply at www.charter.com
 
Standardized Patient  and/or Patient Model – we talked about this some at orientation, but this is an opportunity to work with health professional students as a trained patient that portrays specific symptoms, or as a patient model to serve as actual patients to allow students to practice physical examinations. More information about this can be found on the LMU-DCOM website on the main page in the bottom right hand corner. For specifics review the standardized patient handbook and/or contact Sue Cobb (Standardized Patient/Patient Model Coordinator) at 423-869-6460 or email sue.cobb@lmunet.edu
The pay scale for this is about $10-15 an hour depending on whether you’re training or participating as a patient. Patient Models can make $30 an hour on exam days.

The Mall in Middlesboro will often be hiring, so that is a good place to check.

Substitute teaching is always an option. You can find information about this on the Bell County or Claiborne County Education Websites. Claiborne is for the Harrogate Area and Bell Co is for the Middlesboro Area.


Rodan and Fields Dermatology - Jillian Kramer is a second year spouse and she works for this company. It has helped her and her family a lot. It's an amazing business that allows you to work from home, part-time or full-time. (Perfect for stay-at-home moms). If you have drive, energy, and internet connection, you can do this job. Their team trains you step by step, gets you started and there's no experience needed. The BEST part about joining our team NOW is we are going global this month (starting in CANADA) and in 30 days we will be launching a BRAND new product that no one else in the world has at this time. SO it would be an amazing TIME to start your business and get it moving. Please do not hesitate to talk to Jillian more about this opportunity.

Things to Know About the Area
This is a very low-income and poverish area so jobs CAN be found, but they are probably not going to offer you a great salary. The cost of living here is also low so that is why they count on people being willing to work for a lower income. For most jobs in the area don’t expect to make more than $7.50-$15 an hour. This is not to say that you cannot find a job that pays higher, but you may need to travel outside the area to Knoxville or Morristown. You can in either city in 45 minutes to an hour and a half depending on where you’re looking in the city.

Also realize that employers are hesitant to higher spouses because most of us are highly educated, meaning we cost more, but they also realize we probably won’t be here after two years. Often times they feel their investment wouldn’t be worth it. Again don’t be discouraged, because there are many people who WILL hire you in this area, but if it takes longer to find a job than what you’re used to then just keep these things in mind.
If you need help getting an appointment with Ted in the Career Services Office to let him help you with your job search, or if there’s any other contact information we can help you with please let us know.
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  • Meet and Treat - Tomorrow is the first Meet and Treat of the year. This is something the 2nd years, 3rd year fellows, and OMM Professors do every Wednesday night starting at 5:30pm. It takes place in the OPP Lab on the 2nd Floor of DCOM down the left hall from the 2nd Floor Lounge. The first couple weeks it's usually pretty busy so try to get there early if you can. If you or your kids are having any medical issues (headaches, ear aches, back pain, etc) this is a great FREE option for you to be worked on, learn even more about OMT, and this gives your student an opportunity to learn. Bring your student, let them observe other students techniques. It will really help them in the long run for their OPP practicals!

  • The SAA Board is going to be working to add smaller outings/events/activities to help make your transition easier and let us bond with each other during the September Board Meeting. We will keep you updated about these events. At the top of the blog there is an events tab that will keep you up-to-date on upcoming events, and explain what these events are in more detail.

  • A few members brought up some stresses and frustrations with the first few weeks of school. We encouraged everyone to hang in there. The first semester is truly the hardest, but it will get much easier. Be patient with your student, and once they get that first exam score back they will be able to gauge whether they need to change up their study habits, or even study less. Please feel free to reach out to other SAA Members, and even the Board if you need to vent, or if you're having any specific struggles. We're truly here to help.

  •  Also, feel free to post on the SAA Facebook Page if you're bored/need to get out of the house and need to meet up with someone for coffee. If you're looking for something to occupy your time, more than likely so is another spouse. We're all in this together and it's important we support each other.

  • We also discussed upcoming events. The next one will be next Tuesday Aug 19th at 7pm. We are doing Ice Cream in the Park (Harrogate City Park). SAA will provide the ice cream and toppings, just bring yourself, your student, and a friend! The park is not pet-friendly so unfortunately you can't bring your four-legged babies, but human babies are absolutely welcome!! We can't wait to see you then!
  • The next meeting will be Tuesday September 9th at 6:30 in the same room ( DCOM 305) so please arrive around 6:15pm again so we can begin promptly at 6:30pm. Food will be appetizers and desserts again. THANK YOU to everyone who brought awesome stuff tonight!
    We will see you soon!


                                                                                          -2014-2015 SAA Board

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