William R. Haid, New Orleans, Louisiana - 2000
What a year! Seems like only yesterday that we were
standing on this platform in Charlotte and Paul Anderson was passing the
AACRAO gavel to me. The year of an AACRAO president is both long and
short. The work, the planning, the meetings, and the issues seem never
to end. Yet, in reality the time is over so quickly and the script is
written for the gavel to pass again. I can honestly say that I have
enjoyed every minute of the past year as your AACRAO president. But I
can also say that it would not have been possible to serve in this
position without the tremendous support of many people. I am very
indebted to the staff of AACRAO for their dedication and responsiveness,
and to the Board Of Directors for their commitment and participation
with me on all of our work this year. Both groups are exceptional in
their quality and a joy to work with.
I must also give acknowledgement to my new employer,
Colorado State University, for their willingness to hire me in the
middle of my presidency and to provide enthusiastic support for my
continued role on the board next year. I’d like to acknowledge my new
staff and colleagues from CSU who are present.
But, the core of my support during my terms on the Board
Of Directors has come from my former institution, University of
Colorado. Supervisors and staff, I was privileged to work with the best
people I have known. I would like to acknowledge my former staff and
loyal friends from CU who are present.
Of course, I have enjoyed the support of many friends and
colleagues this year and throughout my career who have encouraged me
and stood by me. There are too many of you to even try and name, but
please know that I appreciate each of you.
Finally though, you know that there is only one person
who day in and day out is my reason for living, my anchor in every
storm, my joy and delight, my friend and my lover, the mother of my
children, my partner in life, the one who knows the real me, the one who
stands beside me whether I’m right or wrong, my best and closest
friend, Ms. Joan Haid.
This has been one of the greatest years of my life.
Serving as AACRAO president has been the ultimate professional
experience. I am so grateful for the opportunity and very thankful to
have had a year of relative calm and success. AACRAO has been rebuilding
for the past two years after going through some very difficult and
challenging times. I appreciate the leadership that preceded me who
faced the challenges and set the course for AACRAO’s recovery. This year
we have been able to focus on rebuilding from a new base of strength.
The finances of AACRAO are much more stable now and the reserves are
returning to their former levels. The staff of AACRAO are the best I
have worked with. They have been very directly responsible for the
return of many basic and new services to members. The Board of Directors
has been another source of strength for the association. Everyone is
taking his or her governance and leadership roles seriously. All of
these are the reasons I feel we have had successes this year.
For my part, I feel that accomplishing the steps to
incorporate AACRAO was a major contribution to further strengthening our
association. The board, the task force, the staff, and members who have
expressed interest have all done a credible job of getting us to the
point of incorporation. Working with the task force on reviewing the
bylaws was the highlight of the year! We are seeking the general
membership approval of these steps at the annual meeting.
At the beginning of my presidency I made a pledge to
improve and increase communication to members. I personally have
initiated communication to members in the form of my president’s
journal, the president’s corner in the Data Dispenser, e-mail blasts
about the incorporation process, the establishment of an informal
advisors network, and much individual communication to members as the
opportunities arose. The AACRAO office has initiated several new
communication devices that are being well received by members;
specifically the weekly Federal Relations Update and the “members only”
section of the website. The Data Dispenser itself has become a
substantial newsletter to members with regular content and special
inserts from data collected from members. The website has also undergone
extensive enhancements, and information requested by members has been
added and regularly maintained. I have received good feedback from
members about our communications.
I also pledged to make AACRAO membership valuable to our
members by focusing on the services desired and investigating ways to
make membership meaningful to all members, especially those from small
colleges. This year we have conducted several surveys to discover and
evaluate our core services. The results have been reported in special
inserts in Data Dispensers this year. These have been used to prioritize
the services delivered. We have instituted new workshops and programs,
such as the new Registrar 101, designed to meet the needs of individuals
new to their role as registrar. We have also investigated alternative
methods of assessing dues to find a more equitable way for small
colleges to belong to AACRAO. There is no easy answer to this, but the
work of the membership subcommittee of the board continues in this area.
Finally, I pledged to improve the performance of the
board and the office in our work and the delivery of services and
programs. I have organized the board into subcommittees, which has
proven to be an effective way to accomplish the work of the board. We
have also spent dedicated time to board development and understanding of
our governing roles as board members. We have set performance standards
for the Executive Director as part of his contract and annual
evaluation.
As I traveled to state and regional meetings this year,
it was a privilege to represent AACRAO. I met many members and had the
opportunity to hear their concerns and issues. Members are telling me
that they are glad to see AACRAO providing the services they need and
want. They are also happy to see AACRAO not only coming out of the woods
from a few years ago but becoming a stronger association in the
process. The Board and the Staff are encouraged by this, but also
realize that there is much more to be done for AACRAO.
Our services still need to be directed to the needs of
our members and constantly reviewed for currency and value. Our work
needs to be of the highest quality and guided by our mission and modeled
by and for our members. Our relationships with other associations,
agencies, and corporate partners need to be built on our strengths and
for our mutual benefit. We are AACRAO and we are proud of our heritage
and our promise.
I believe AACRAO today is positioned to march into this
new millennium and toward its own centennial birthday as a leading
association of higher education in this country. We have the basis for
defining our profession, the skill needed to help each other, and the
talent to lead where others will follow. AACRAO is indeed a vital
association for our future. Happy 90th birthday, AACRAO. Here’s to a
strong run to 100 years of AACRAO!