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Poetter Hall was purchased by the SCAD founders in March 1979. Classes began in September of that year.  
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Trivial Pursuits

Trivial Pursuits
 
Houseman stays busy as a bee

Andrea Houseman
Photo by Dane Sponberg 
Savannah College of Art and Design senior Andrea Houseman has found ample opportunities to study historic preservation in SCAD buildings such as Keys Hall, which houses the college’s communications department and Student Media Center.

By Monique Bos
Published: Friday, May 12, 2006

Andrea Houseman, a senior historic preservation major at the Savannah College of Art and Design, is keeping busy: She’s co-vice president of the Student Preservation Association, the historic preservation student organization; a member of the Student Parking Appeals Board; and assistant director of The Hive, the SCAD student-run Internet group (http://thehive.scad.edu).

She not only does all these things, but she does them well — as her selection as Outstanding Student Media Leader for 2005-06 proves.

“I don’t have time to have senioritis!” said Houseman, who graduates this spring.

Her role in the Preservation Association and with Preservation Week — a series of lectures, held during the first week of May, that features leaders in the field — has helped provide her with information and contacts as she prepares for a career.

“This year we had three days with nine different lectures that we arranged,” she said. “It’s one of the only student-run, major lecture series at SCAD.”

She and four other students were primary organizers of the event.

“Everyone took on some kind of duty,” Houseman said. “I contacted a few people about speaking and scheduled a tour of environmentally friendly buildings.”

She and her fellow association members worked hard to make the week a success.

“We’re all seniors, and we all poured our hearts into it,” she said. “I met a lot of amazing people and made a lot of contacts.”

Houseman also devotes time every week to meeting with the Student Parking Appeals Board. SCAD students, faculty or staff members who are ticketed or towed on college property can write an appeal to the office of transportation and parking services — not college security — at parking@scad.edu. Members of the student board meet to discuss and resolve appeals.

“We try to be fair. Usually being sorry isn’t enough,” Houseman said. “We read everyone’s appeal, and we judge them based on the published rules” (available online at www.scad.edu/parking).

She particularly enjoys working with Falishia Wilson, transportation and parking services manager. “She’s wonderful,” Houseman said. “She’s so calm. One day, when I’m in the work world, I want to be able to deal with people like she does.”

And then, of course, there’s The Hive.

Houseman described her duties as assistant director as “three jobs combined into one … I help everyone with a little bit of everything.”

“I started out doing club sites, and it rolled into this bigger job with more responsibility,” she explained. “I liked the people who were involved, and that helped a lot.”

In addition to working with clubs to set up their sites on The Hive, she also helps implement new software, moderates forums, finds bugs, plans events, and works with other staff to promote the site. The Hive sponsors several events each year, including socials for site users to meet face-to-face. HOTNES (Hive Online Training Network Educating SCAD), a series of workshops that take place during the Student Media Center’s Media Mayhem weeks, provide free training for a variety of technology and software. Staff members at the site also brought a five-by-six-foot canvas to this year’s Record Fair and spearheaded the creation of a colorful multimedia piece, with contributions from The Hive staffers, students, visitors and “random people off the street,” according to Houseman.

Like many other members of Student Media groups, she said the experience has been a valuable aspect of her experience at SCAD.

“I like being in Student Media in general,” she said. “I’ve made a lot of friends. I like working with Jessica Clary and John Bennett. Basically, you have an excuse to get paid while hanging out with a bunch of your best friends.”

And, like several other interviews I’ve had with Student Media members, our conversation was interrupted by a missile from the infamous Nerf dart gun. (See “SCAD Radio DJs lose sleep over Audio Binge-a-thon,” page 1.)

“I took it from SCAD Radio and hid it in our drawer,” said Houseman. “It worked out for a few weeks. I saved a lot of people that way.”

Anyone with a tolerance for flying objects and an interest in being involved with The Hive can e-mail thehive@scad.edu or attend the site’s meetings, held every Friday at 2 p.m. in Keys Hall, 516 Abercorn St.