Mike Reilly, Executive Director at AACRAO, is set to moderate a panel of experts at the upcoming Annual Meeting in Baltimore, MD. We caught up with him to get some more information about the session on the Higher Education Policy Landscape.
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Mike Reilly
Executive Director
AACRAO
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Monday, April 13, 2015 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM
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AACRAO : What current and upcoming higher education policy activity will the panel be discussing?
Mike Reilly: We’ll be facing a busy stretch. The Higher Education Act is due for reauthorization, the rating system is supposed to go into effect by the end of this year, and we are seeing more and more proposals – some of which may have traction, some which may not – coming out of the white house and congress. We plan to talk about how this activity might affect the postsecondary community.
Can you tell us who will be on this panel?
MR: The panel members will be Terry Hartle, Senior Vice President of the Division of Government and Public Affairs at the American Council on Education (ACE); Cheryl Smith, Senior Vice President of Public Policy and Government Affairs at the United Negro College Fund (UNCF); and David Baime, Senior Vice President for Government Relations and Policy Analysis at the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). And I will be humbly moderating the discussion.
Why were these three panelists selected?
MR: All three of our panel members bring a wealth of experience and knowledge from a broad spectrum of the higher education environment.
Terry Hartle was the education staff director for the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources for six years, and for the past 20 years he has been directing efforts at ACE to engage lawmakers on a variety of education-related issues.
Cheryl Smith has extensive experience working in the Capital on education issues, having served in various capacities for 25 years in Congress. She was the first and only African American to serve as staff director of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education.
Finally, David Baim has been working at AACC for over 20 years helping to shape policy initiatives affecting community colleges. He regularly contributes his expertise in congressional testimony, and his pieces are often featured in major higher education publications.
All of these experts bring unique and thorough perspectives to prevalent policy in the higher education landscape. I believe that their enlivened discussion, along with some interaction from our own members, will help the audience come away more informed and perhaps better suited to deal with potential policy shifts.