As the Secretary of the Information Management Association (IMA), Alex Martinez is dedicated to maintaining communications with members, make sure the organization’s calendars are up-to-date, taking attendance at meetings and recording meeting minutes.

Alex, a junior majoring in Management Information Systems (MIS), said his involvement with IMA began two years ago when he attended the Operations and Information Management (OPIM) Department’s technology workshops on 3D printing, Raspberry Pi and Linux.

Alex said that as he progressed in his academic career, he began to see more of the benefits that IMA provided – building key career skills and making connections in the information technology field.

The following year, Alex said he began to attend more of IMA’s events and meetings to get acquainted with his career plans, OPIM classes and IT tools. This year, Alex became even more involved with IMA by holding the position of Secretary, through which he hopes to build upon his leadership and organizational skills. He said that becoming more involved in IMA will allow him to gain relevant knowledge in the MIS field and help other students to do so, as well.

This semester, Alex said his main goal for IMA is to enhance the membership experience.

“One of my main goals for IMA this semester is to help facilitate an active, productive, and fun experience for our members, and hopefully get them even more interested and aware of where their major can take them after UConn,” Alex said.

For students interested in joining IMA, Alex said not to be shy. As a shy individual himself, Alex said he hesitated to get involved on campus at first.

“I can say from my own experience that pushing yourself to join an organization you’re interested in is one of the best decisions you can make for yourself and your education,” Alex said.

On a personal level, Alex wants to gain a better understanding of common information technology tools to maximize his experience while interning at Travelers this upcoming summer. He said that IMA has and continues to help him meet these goals through understanding many important tools used in the IT field. Ultimately, Alex said he would like to work at a technology firm, helping design and implement key pieces of the firm’s business.

With the start of a new year, so begins Zach Regan’s new job of IMA Treasurer. As a junior Management Information Systems (MIS) major, this is Zach’s first position in IMA. He began his involvement with the organization at the beginning of his sophomore year.

As an MIS major, Zach said he joined IMA as a way to get involved, for career development and to meet other students in his major. After his first year in IMA, Zach decided to run for a position because he said he wanted to get more involved with the inner workings of the organization.

Zach said that in addition to information technology, he is interested in finance and accounting, which is what intrigued him about the treasurer position. Additionally, Zach said he thought it would be beneficial for him to gain financial experience to make himself more well-versed in the different areas of business.

As the new treasurer, Zach hopes to drive interest in IMA amongst students and ultimately raise attendance at meetings. For his position in particular, he hopes to seek more funding so the club can put on more events and workshops for members.

As for Zach’s personal future goals, he is interested in pursuing a career in Information Security. He said an internship he had last summer in Information Security at 1-800-FLOWERS really sparked his interest in the field.

“It’s something that’s always changing and very interesting to me, I love reading the articles when companies get hacked and I want to see what I can do to improve in that field, to see what I can do to help,” Zach said.

Zach said that IMA has allowed him to see the different career opportunities available in his major and to network with different companies throughout his time in college. He said that having face-to-face time with professional recruiters through IMA events has given him practice with informal interviews.

One of Zach’s goals for the year is to grow the organization through additional members and resources. Zach encourages students to join IMA because he believes it guides you in your career, gives you exposure to all of the different opportunities available and gives you the tools for successful a career development.