Nearly one hundred state and regional AACRAO officers from around the country joined AACRAO’s Professional Activity Committee (PAC) and the AACRAO Board of Directors Dec. 2 & 3 in Washington, D.C. for the annual State and Regional Leadership Meeting.
The meeting provided a program planning forum for the AACRAO PAC Chairs and Board of Directors for the coming year. It is also an opportunity to assist new state and regional officers with details of how to run all-volunteer organizations. Topics discussed included legal issues, financial management, and professional development in addition to some great round table discussions on organizational structure, meeting planning, and overall brainstorming.
“Each Leadership Meeting always has one universal component: the opportunity to connect with other AACRAO professionals throughout the country,” said Incoming President-elect Tina Falkner. “Despite our different backgrounds, schools, work portfolios these people have become my friends, professional network, and sounding board.”
Current AACRAO initiatives
Mike Reilly, Executive Director of AACRAO, gave an update on current initiatives within AACRAO, including:
- development of "trending topics" on the AACRAO website,
- the creation of two workgroups: Disciplinary Notations and Student Identity,
- the creation of FERPA training videos,
- staying at the forefront of international education issues, and
- continued progress on core competencies and professional development.
Falkner is especially excited about the continued progress on core competencies and professional development.
“I am most excited about putting our core competencies into action - building out ways that AACRAO can assist our members in developing the knowledge, skills, and abilities central to our profession,” Falkner said.
Strategic planning update
Strategic Planning Committee of the Board of Directors gave a brief update of their work and focus to-date and moving forward. The Committee focused on three main areas:
1) access and equity,
2) state and regional associations, and
3) student success.
All three areas tie back to a single theme: communication between members, especially between state/regional and the national organization, is key to success. Moving forward, it will be important to establish clear, formal relationships between state/regional and the national organization and to identify the needs of each group.
Expect to see more over the coming year from the AACRAO office and the Board of Directors to support these goals.