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AIAS Student Chapter Travels to Nation's Capital for Leadership Conference

The American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) presented the 25th annual Grassroots Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. in July. The College of Architecture and Design was able to send representatives to the conference this year.

The conference offers instruction and tips on how to be an effective leader, run a successful AIAS chapter, and on motivating and organizing students. The conference also is an opportunity to meet student leaders from across North America. Though designed for the chapter presidents and vice presidents to attend, other emerging leaders are invited and encouraged to participate in the conferences, and every chapter is expected to be represented.

Chantal Safi and Tyler Blazer from the college's AIAS chapter were able to attend and participate in the three-day conference.

"We are so fortunate that Dean McRae, the faculty, and all the staff support AIAS to the extent that they are willing to send two students to D.C. to hone in on the leadership skills to strengthen our AIAS chapter," Chantal said.

Some of the topics that were covered during the conference included:

* Fund raising strategies to leverage local opportunities
* Effective volunteer recruitment ideas
* Strategies to help with local management
* How to work with local architects for the greatest impact for students
* Promotion and publicity

"To attend AIAS Grassroots is just one of the many benefits for taking a leadership position within the College of Architecture and Design," Chantal said. "Through this conference, we were able to experience, learn and discuss architectural issues and concerns with other AIAS students."

Participation of the conference led to another opportunity for the UT Knoxville AIAS chapter: hosting the fall 2010 South Quad Conference for AIAS. Quad conferences are hosted by an AIAS chapter in the region and are a great way for members to meet other students in their school's region and to learn about architecture outside of the classrooms.

"The 2009 AIAS Grassroots Conference also led our school to an opportunity to host the fall 2010 South Quad Conference for AIAS. This is an exciting time for us to showcase what the University of Tennessee's College of Architecture and Design has to offer, as well as the local area that we reside," Tyler said. "We have lots of planning to do, but I am sure we are fully capable of creating a memorable event for visiting architecture students across the South."

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