“10 Questions” is part of weekly series in which a prominent person in the Iowa State and Ames communities is interviewed. To suggest someone for an interview, submit an e-mail request to [email protected]. This week’s interview is with Dave Critchlow, adviser to the Student Alumni Association.

What do you do as the adviser for the Student Alumni Association?

There are 110 students on nine committees, and we do things anywhere from Homecoming to Family Weekend to Siblings Weekend, Senior Week and Career Services Activities. We give special tours to alumni and friends of the university. We also have a collegiate membership program where we help the Alumni Association spread the word about becoming involved in the activities.

How long does it take to plan a weekend event such as Sibling Weekend?

For the Sibling Weekend, we started planning in January, and Homecoming starts in January as well, even though it is not until November. That involves quite a bit of scheduling, securing entertainment and facilities for the activities.

[It’s the] same with the Family Weekend; the biggest strain on those two would be getting publicity. I’d say planning for a good event takes three to four months. I kinda equate Homecoming and Family Weekend to some of the events at Veishea, Greek Week or Varieties.

What were your goals for this year?

Right now, we’re in a transitional phase in the whole selection process. One of our goals was trying to get more people involved with the different activities and getting more residence hall participation on committees.

Right now, it’s a little early to see how much of that has been met as far as getting more non-greek members on SAA. The percentage of non-greeks on the committee is going up. That’s a positive sign, and we want to continue to increase the awareness that it is not a greek organization.

Do you think students get the impression that it is greek?

People have gotten the impression that it is predominately greek. Our president last year was not [greek]. Predominately, a lot of the greeks do get involved because they want to. We are actively encouraging any students who apply, those greek and non-greek.

Where do you get most of your funding from?

We are program of the Alumni Association, so the majority of our funding comes from [that organization]. However, we have some auxiliary committees that we work with, [such as] the Parents Association, in which we run the program and they fund the activities. We also are active in fund raising for a lot of the events. We’ll [raise money] with other clubs, organizations or companies outside of the university.

How are the committee members appointed?

There’s anywhere from seven to 20 members on a committee. They’re actually selected by an interview process. We just changed our selection process so we have our selections in the fall. … They’re hopefully selected before Thanksgiving. They are then in that position from January to December. It’s basically open to anyone.

What do you like about working as an adviser for the SAA?

I truly do enjoy working with the students. It’s great to see the students’ hard work culminate into a successful event that everyone can be proud of.

How do you stay organized?

Trying to keep a schedule, working directly with the chairs, having weekly meetings with them and trying to attend as many meetings as I can.

What is has been your favorite event to advise and organize?

I like them all. I started out doing Homecoming, and that was really exciting. I enjoy working with the Family Committee. I really just like all of the events. It’s a different job every day. I really can’t pinpoint any specific one.

What do you think is the key to a successful event?

Organization, publicity and a great attitude towards the event.