(pictured: TACRAO Board Members)
by Avery Swinson, TACRAO President
Greetings from TACRAO!
The Tennessee association is fresh off our annual meeting, which was held November 16-18, 2016, in the exciting and historical city of Memphis, TN. The annual meeting served as a great time to recharge and reconnect with both familiar and new colleagues from across our beautiful state.
This year, TACRAO was very fortunate to have both an opening session and keynote speaker. Stacy Lightfoot, Vice President of College and Career Success with Public Education Foundation, kicked off the meeting perfectly as she challenged members to “remember your why” and the reason for our work. Our keynote speaker Jacqui Elliott, President of enrollmentFUEL and AACRAO Board member, was equally insightful as she shared her personal and professional lessons from Queen Elizabeth I and hip-hop…and, yes, it was as interesting and fun as it sounds!
During the conference, TACRAO members had the opportunity to attend numerous breakout sessions that are relevant in the Admissions and Records world. Popular sessions from the annual meeting include topics related to adult learners, generation Z, making the most of your role as an admissions counselor, the state of affirmative action in higher education, the role of the Registrar, and many other professional development sessions. Also, TACRAO is very pleased to have one of our sessions chosen as an AACRAO Best of the Best session this year. Arnold Arredondo and Christopher Cotton from Baptist College of Health Sciences were selected to present their session “Bridge Building: Connecting with Adult Learners and Gen Z” at the AACRAO Annual Meeting. We know they will do a great job representing TACRAO!
The TACRAO Board of Directors is looking forward to building off such a great annual conference and planning numerous event for our members in 2017.