By: Dr. Jacquelyn D. Elliott, University of Missouri—St. Louis, International Liaison Specialist; AACRAO VP for International Education
What better place than AACRAO Connect to talk about how AACRAO connects people, philosophies, and truly engenders global diversity in higher education. At the recent 101st AACRAO annual meeting in Baltimore, MD, from April 12-15, over 80 international attendees from all over the world came to the USA to share thoughts and learn from one another best practices within the field.
So, how do these individuals learn about AACRAO? Many are AACRAO members already, but others learn about it from industry email blasts and list serves. If your institution is an international member, but you have not considered personal membership, look into the opportunities available to you. We invite you to join us next year in sunny Phoenix, AZ, from March 20-23, 2016.
Many participants come to AACRAO for the networking opportunities. Said Maher Dabbouseh of the American University of Kuwait, “I had a great desire to meet, connect, and share best practices with peers in North America and across the globe.” Others attend because they are volunteering on committees and serve as presenters. Take Vivi Consta of DEREE—The American College of Greece in Athens as an example—she serves on the Registration and Academic Support Committee.
Participants also highlight they find lots of takeaways from the conference, some very specific and others more generic. Viviane Nakhlé of Notre Dame University in Lebanon said she is taking back some great ideas about small college recruitment strategies, while Maher Dabbousheh feels that “regardless of what part of the world any university is in, the day-to-day objectives of professionals is the same. It is nice to know that we all share common goals and face the same pressure, regardless of where our institution is based.”
One other great thing about our international visitors is the opportunity for them to do some sightseeing in the USA. Participants toured the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Baltimore Harbor, Towson Town Center, and watched the Orioles and Yankees duke it out in Camden Yards. (You can look up the score!)
While Vivi Consta told me that it is hard to always go back to the office and implement all we learn at AACRAO because of the daily duties that consume us, the main point is that we are in this together, no matter where in the world we find ourselves. While mingling at the international reception, and then later in our interview, Maher said, “it’s nice to have resources in North America and across the world to refer to. It’s great to network among peers, as it gives a feeling that we are more than individuals and institutions, we are a cohesive group of industry experts from all across the globe.”
And, I couldn’t agree more with this adage; our international relationships, whether on our own campuses, or within our professional associations such as AACRAO, play a vital role in advancing global and knowledge-based economies. So, the next time you are driving home at the end of a long day in the office, and you are thinking, “Why do I keep doing this?” just remember your local and international colleagues, students, and peers, and you will know why—it’s about the connections we make!