“Summer in the City” with the AACRAO Board

by Brad Myers, AACRAO President

As many of us are about to begin our fall terms, I just wanted to give you a quick update on AACRAO Board activities for the summer. Several of us visited state or regional meetings and all of us will be visiting more during the fall; some of us attended the AACRAO Tech/Transfer conference in July; and we’ve had many conference calls (Board committee meetings and full Board meetings). But, our primary “event” was the in-person Board retreat and meeting held in Ft. Lauderdale immediately after Transfer/Tech in July.

The retreat was a great opportunity for us to more formally kick off the new Board year with our newest members: Dan Garcia (West Texas A&M University), Nicole Rovig (Michigan State University), Luke Schultheis (Virginia Commonwealth University) and Monique Snowden (Fielding Graduate University). Although their terms officially began in April, this was our first face-to-face meeting since the Annual Meeting in Denver. The first two full days of our 3-day meeting served as a strategic planning retreat. The discussion was primarily focused on identifying priorities for the coming year – both for the Board and, with senior leadership from the national office, for AACRAO. Topics included:

• A review of the evolving relationship between the Board and the Program Committee. Jack Miner (Ohio State University, Program Committee Chair-Elect) was able to participate in that conversation with the Board.
• Receipt of the Program Task Force final report. Co-chair Reta Pikowski (Georgia Tech University) provided highlights of the report, and responded to many questions from the Board. I would like to take this opportunity formally to thank Reta, her co-chair (Meredith Braz, Dartmouth College), and all of our members who served on the Program Task Force. They did great work and gave the Board, the Program Committee, and the national office much to consider. You will see more about the report in a future edition of “Connect.”
• Receipt of the International Admissions & Credentials Evaluation Task Force final report. Chair Gloria Nathanson (UCLA, retired) summarized the recommendations and responded to questions from the Board. Again, I want to take this opportunity to thank Gloria and all the other members of that Task Force. This was a major effort in an area very important to a strategic direction of the association. You will also see more about this report in a future edition of “Connect.”
• Priorities for each of the Board committees.
• A review of the association’s Strategic Plan and alignment with the national office Operating Plan.
• A discussion about issues within Higher Education, particularly as they might apply to our membership — including national political issues.
• A discussion about the roles of the two new At-Large Vice Presidents. The first one will assume office in the spring of 2015; and the second in the spring of 2016. Those new roles were approved in the recent Bylaw changes.
• A discussion about the benefits of having an External Board member, and, if we decide to appoint one, what characteristics we would be looking for. This comes from another recent Bylaw change.
• A discussion about communication and outreach from the Board, both to the membership and also to State & Regional groups.
• A discussion about membership engagement, particularly with areas not as active or as well represented within the association.
• An ongoing discussion on a Board “project” started last year — core competencies for our industry.

We had great conversations and I know that we moved into our regular Board meeting agenda more together as a team and with a better sense of direction. I’m very excited about this coming year as president of the association!

I also want to take this opportunity to say “Thanks!” to a small group of members who have been working with me and staff from the national office on developing more workable strategies regarding the new 150% reporting requirements with financial aid. Earlier this summer, this group met with staff from the US Department of Education, NASFAA (National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators), and some financial aid practitioners in DC, and have followed-up with additional discussions. A few of us had another conversation with representatives from the Department of Education last week. We think that we came up with some workable strategies that would be more manageable for our institutions, and still meet reporting/accountability expectations. The Department of Education hopes to release updated guidelines very soon.

Please feel free to contact me or any member of the board with questions/concerns/comments or if you want more details on our discussions.

Best wishes to everyone as we start a new academic year!