The Pennsylvania State University - Administrative Information Services, a unit of Information Technology Services

Reaching Out

Administrative Information Services (AIS) provides a monthly newsletter and writing tips, along with hosting Open Forum sessions on various information technology topics, to connect with fellow AIS staff, University staff, and the community.

Monthly Newsletter & Tips

A great way to stay in touch with the latest AIS news and notes is to read the monthly AIS Newsletter. The newsletter features a note from AIS Senior Director, Ron Rash, a feature story or two, and personnel notes.

In addition to the monthly newsletter, AIS provides two types of monthly tips--Writing Tips and the RedDot Content Management System (CMS) Tip.

The AIS Writing Tips are applicable to anyone who's interested in language and grammar, and past tips have included proper comma use, confusing word pairs, and writing from the perspective of first, second, and third person.

The AIS RedDot CMS (Content Management System) Tip is geared toward AIS Web site content providers, and the monthly tip reviews information that content providers have already learned, highlights any changes to the system, or responds to commonly asked questions.

Open Forum

The AIS Open Forum is a grassroots initiative that was started by AIS staff members. Informal, weekly meetings serve as a forum to encourage and facilitate dialog about work-related technologies and issues. Evolving over time, a wide variety of topics are identified and discussed, often extending awareness and appreciation of the work occurring within the AIS organization.

If participating in the Open Forum, please follow these guidelines:

  • The meetings are very informal. Questions and dialog are welcome and encouraged.
  • Attendance is always open as long as there is a seat available. If you have never attended, simply come to the forum and get involved. There is no membership to the group or other commitment needed, and you can always bring a friend.
  • In general, each meeting will focus on only one topic.
  • The meetings will be scheduled on Thursday afternoons at 3 p.m., usually lasting between an hour and an hour-and-a-half. Unless indicated otherwise, the meetings will be held in Room 2, Shields Building.
  • The topics are open and varied, applying to different audiences based on interest and need. If you have a suggestion for an Open Forum topic, please send it to Mike Kauffman.
  • A contact is listed for each meeting. This person is responsible for attending to details for that particular session, i.e. make arrangements for getting speakers, ensuring needed equipment is available and ready, locating alternate meeting location if required, etc. The contact is also available to answer questions pertaining to the associated session.
  • No single person is responsible for doing homework or preparing materials, but anyone who has resources related to a topic should make them available to the group. The important concept here is to share knowledge.
  • If ever needed, we will create a limited number sign up sheet for the sessions. If certain topics require a larger meeting area, we will look into larger venues.

The Open Forum meeting schedule is as follows:

Date Time Topic Speaker(s) Location
9/03/09 3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Future of ANGEL Brian Beiswenger 2 Shields

Content Questions: AIS Webmaster | Support Questions: AIS Support