By Julia Funaki, AACRAO International Education Services An interesting and wonderful thing happened at AACRAO's 99th Annual Meeting in San Francisco: our circle of friends in Group II widened. Group II comprises the International Admissions and Study Abroad professionals of AACRAO. While AACRAO has made an effort at growing the sessions and membership of Group II, its members have always been an active and hardworking group. Most involved in international education have had to undertake a myriad of responsibilities with a limited budget for professional development.
AACRAO is grateful that a growing number of international admissions professionals are choosing to take part in the Annual Meeting and its many leadership and professional development opportunities. The general feedback was that there were a good variety of sessions.
"I came away from the conference having really learned something",┬" one attendee said. "The sessions had a lot of depth to them".┬" The biggest problem she encountered was having too many sessions she was interested in attending in any given time slot.
Another attendee -- back for the second year in a row after a lengthy hiatus -- declared that she now plans to donate her time and skill set to AACRAO. She felt the other conferences she has been involved with in the past have gotten too large; at AACRAO she was not lost in the shuffle, it was much easier to maneuver, and the content was of high quality.
Many attendees remarked personally to staff that they looked forward to returning next year, and becoming more involved with AACRAO.
We at AACRAO were deeply gratified to hear these comments. We also intend to continue growing our association, and widen our circle of members. Not too large, mind you, but wide enough that we can welcome all those interested in attending with open arms.
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AACRAO Connect