PACRAO

Award: Elbert W. Ockerman State and Regional Professional Activity Award
Winner: Pacific Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (PACRAO)
Project: PACRAO Leadership Development Institute (LDI)

PACRAO initiated a Leadership Development Institute (LDI) with the expressed intent to provide a development opportunity for emerging leaders in the professional arenas that PACRAO serves. 

As registrars and admissions officers, we are both the gatekeepers and the pathfinders for our students. America's population, and by extension the population of American colleges and universities, is rapidly diversifying. Within a generation, a majority of Americans will come from populations that are currently underrepresented in higher education. However, the ranks of admissions and registrar professionals, particularly at the leadership level, is not representative of the students we serve and will serve in the future.

PACRAO can play a key role in shaping every level of membership through thought leadership, professional development opportunities, and the creation of intentional streams of development that actively encourage a broader spectrum of professionals to engage and grow in the profession. The PACRAO LDI exists to fill both PACRAO’s leadership funnel, and the leadership funnel in our professions, with emerging leaders who are representative of the diversity of our region. Through their commitment to transformative learning and the guidance and mentorship of our phenomenal faculty, the cohort will become the next generation of enrollment leaders who will reshape the way higher education works. 

What is the LDI?
• A Cohort of 10-15 "students" who are relatively early in their careers who aspire to leadership roles at their institutions and with PACRAO. The Cohort is carefully selected so that it is as representative as possible of the diverse experiences of the students we are serving now and will be serving in the coming decades.

• A dedicated faculty made up of PACRAO members who have distinguished themselves in the Admissions and Registrar fields and as servant leaders to the PACRAO community. Three faculty members and a faculty Dean have been selected to lead and mentor the cohort. 

• A carefully constructed curriculum that will expose Cohort members to literature, group conversation, guest speakers and more. The LDI experience will expose Cohort participants to the possibility of a transformative experience that will both provide critical knowledge that higher education leaders must possess in order to be effective in their roles. Coequally, the LDI experience should create inspiration in each participant to be difference makers and change agents in every community they belong to. 

The cohort has been asked to commit to being involved in the LDI for one year. The cohort’s year begins at the Annual Meeting and concludes at the Annual Meeting the following year. The Cohort will be engaged in readings and virtual conversations about those readings. All materials will be provided at no charge to participants by PACRAO. 

PACRAO does not charge for the LDI or LDI materials. We expect one commitment in from our cohort members in return for our investment in the LDI: we expect that every Cohort member will agree to stand for some sort of leadership or other formal involvement opportunity with PACRAO once their cohort year has concluded.
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