[From L to R: Jimenez, Barnett, Luis Ernesto Derbez (President of Universidad De Las Américas Puebla) and Garcia]
by Dan Garcia, AACRAO President
I was honored to be invited as a guest and speaker at the 8th Congreso de Administración Escolar (8th Assembly of Scholastic Administration), held by the Asociación de Responsables de Servicios Escolares y Estudiantiles (Association of Scholastic and Student Service Managers) and known by the acronym ARSEE.
The conference was held September 30-October 2 in Cholula, Mexico, on the campus of Universidad de las Américas. I joined Janie Barnett, AACRAO associate executive director, and Natalia Jimenez, AACRAO assistant director of marketing and exhibits, to serve as representatives of AACRAO this year.
ARSEE was established in much the same way AACRAO was born in 1910, out of the need of enrollment and service student professionals to connect with one another, share knowledge, and establish common understanding of best practice approaches. As such, AACRAO has been supportive of ARSEE since its creation in many ways, including annual attendance by AACRAO staff and leadership at the ARSEE meeting. Reciprocal agreements between the associations welcome their representatives to our meetings, as well.
Membership in ARSEE has grown during the past decade to 243 members and this year’s conference saw 380 in attendance. There were 26 plenary and session presentations offered over the three days, covering topics that, in most cases, would be familiar to AACRAO members such as student privacy laws, broadening access to higher education, registration models, and internationalization. It was interesting to hear about the many innovative and comprehensive approaches being taken by Mexican institutions to improve enrollment services.
How is ARSEE important to AACRAO and our profession? It was clear that we have much in common and benefit from exchanging our collective knowledge of our shared professions. And as students at our institutions participate in exchange and study abroad programs, they will be beneficiaries of high quality and accredited academic programs as well as services provided by enrollment service professionals at Mexican institutions of higher education that are among the members of ARSEE.