A trip to Capitol Hill will kick off this year’s Summer Leadership meeting in Washington, D.C. Although the capitol is beautiful to behold, this trip is for business, not pleasure.
As state and regional association officers, current and incoming program committee coordinators, committee chairs, caucus chairs, volunteer chairs, and conference directors convene in Washington, D.C., 38 attendees are engaging in advocacy at the federal level on issues within AACRAO’s Public Policy Agenda.
Teams will walk the halls of Congress and talk with different congressional aides (with a few meeting directly with Members of Congress) to share their practitioner perspective on how policy impacts the work our AACRAO members do on a daily basis. These attendees will meet with Representatives from their states who are members of the House Education and Workforce Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension (HELP) Committee. Organized by AACRAO’s Government Relations departments, these meetings with state constituents holds much more weight than meeting with AACRAO staff could ever have.
“Visiting the Hill is sort of like a roller coaster - it is both exciting and a bit terrifying at the same time,” said Tina Falkner, AACRAO President. “Having the opportunity to speak directly to individuals who can influence laws that impact the work we do and help be the voice of the students we serve is quite an honor.
"In preparing to educate the staffers about the details of AACRAO's position on particular issues, I developed a much stronger and more nuanced understanding of why the association holds the positions it does" Falkner explained. "I have also been able to apply this knowledge and understanding to my work on campus as I have collaborated with our Government Relations staff as they work to explain our campus position on proposed legislation changes.”
Senate and House Discussions
While at the Senate, attendees will discuss AACRAO priorities for HEA Reauthorization, FERPA Updates, and support for the recently introduced Reverse Transfer Efficiency Act. On the House side, attendees will discuss FERPA updates and tackle the PROSPER Act, a bill AACRAO believes to be problematic for students, families, and institutions.
AACRAO members interested in learning more about these issues and more are encouraged to visit AACRAO’s Advocacy Issues page.
Follow AACRAO Leadership live on twitter on June 21, 2018.
#AACRAOHillDay #FERPA #ReverseTransfer #ProsperAct #SaveStudentAid