The Southern Association for College Student Affairs (SACSA)
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The Southern Association for College Student Affairs (SACSA) Annual Report FY: 2009 (January 1 – December 31, 2009) Submitted by: Clay E. Brown, Ph.D. President 2008-2009 Annual Conference: November 5-7, 2009 Nashville, TN 60th Anniversary 1 Introduction and Summation: It has been an honor and a blessing to serve as the President of the Southern Association for College Student Affairs for the 2009 fiscal year. The past twelve months has been a double- edged experience of simultaneously restoring and advancing the Association. Restoration was needed due to adverse conditions stemming from a national economic crisis resulting in a minimal/no-profit year during 2008, while advancement was crucial to remain visible, mend some ineffectiveness, and recruit/retain members. It was my philosophy that the needed restoration and advancement of the Association could be partially addressed by re-building internal morale that had eroded. As such, re-constructing a sense of community within SACSA was my primary objective for 2009. The primary action plan used to accomplish this goal was to demonstrate authentic, caring, and timely communication with the SACSA Executive Council that encouraged honesty, vulnerability, professionalism, respect, and integrity. My desire was for this communication style to flow from the Executive Council members to their respective Committee Chairs, and from the Committee Chairs to respective committee members. An example of this communication design was a weekly (most weeks) newsletter titled ―Friday Facts,‖ in which EC members were informed of Associational issues, decisions to be made, challenges to ―think outside the box,‖ and encourage and publicly celebrate individual efforts and competence. I believe we were successful in this communication with the majority of our efforts. Our first testament to ―Community‖ was provided in the release of an Executive Council Member from his/her duties. Due to the fact that this individual was a long time advocate of the Association and had begun the year with intensity, we wanted to make sure he/she left us with a healthy image of our decision, his/her dignity intact, and a sustained love for the Association. After weeks of consultation, the individual and the EC reached a very healthy conclusion resulting in his/her resignation from the governing council. However, the individual also exited with full understanding, an appreciation for our action, and a commitment to remain involved in SACSA (after a one-year hiatus). The focus of Community created collaborative efforts between the Strategic Planning Taskforce and the Executive Council to develop a new and more effective governance structure and election cycle for the Association (Appendix A). In short, the new governance structure realigned duties, terminated one position, and added three positions titled Members-at-Large. This decision increased the size of the Executive Council by two positions, but more importantly permitted greater involvement opportunities within SACSA (a stated goal of the membership). The general membership of the Association approved the new governance structure on November 7, 2009. In addition, the conference implementation structure was altered to include a Conference Chair (versus a Program Chair and a Local Arrangements Chair). In this new structure a Program Coordinator and a Local Arrangements Coordinator will report to a new position titled Conference Chair. Thus, an additional administrative layer was added to the Conference implementation schedule. The greatest benefit of this new structure should be the liberty granted to the President of the Association to concentrate on other significant areas within SACSA, i.e. membership, additional revenue streams, non-conference programming, etc…, so that the organization increases its viability as an Association rather than just an annual conference. 2 The 2009 Nashville Conference was the 60th anniversary of the Association. This fact was a perfect fit with the goal of community restoration. As such, deliberate and intentional efforts were made to locate as many Past Presidents and invite them to the 2009 Conference to mark this milestone. A by-product of this reunion was the demonstration to the current SACSA members of how special the organization is and the impact that it has made on people‘s lives. Thirty-one of the 60 past presidents were in attendance at some point of the conference. Sixteen of the past presidents are deceased. Thus, all but 13 past presidents were at the conference (60 past presidents - 31 attending = 29; minus 16 deceased past presidents = 13). This reunion became the focal point of the conference and culminated in a celebration of the six decades that SACSA has existed and impacted higher education. The closing banquet was comprised of music from the decades, a fashion walk with decade clothing, and a narrative of decade events on the international scene, national scene, and the educational front. The script used for the celebration has been attached to this report (Appendix B). In addition, each past president, both those attending the conference and those in absentia, were given a blue diamond-shaped crystal paperweight with their name engraved on it and the year they served as SACSA President. Each past president was also afforded a blue marbleized desk clock with the same engravings. Based on the number of cards, phone calls, and remarks in the attached evaluations, I believe that the Executive Council was most successful in restoring a sense of Community within The Southern Association for College Student Affairs. It is my hope that we can continue a sustained relationship with the Past Presidents and have them re-connect with the Association through presentations at the annual conference, serving on special taskforces, seeking their council, and assistance with fund-raising for the SACSA Foundation. To conclude, there is an old Chinese proverb that reads: ―Women hold up half the sky!‖ This quote translates to mean that half of the successes in this world are attributed to women. As such, I have had the great experience of working with half a dozen remarkable women the past year and I want to recognize this talented group of female leaders in our Association. These women are: Sherryl Byrd, Melissa Shivers, Jane Adams-Dunford, Amy Coles, Denisha Sanders, and Beth Waltrip. This recognition is not to dismiss the contributions of the gentlemen that I have the pleasure to work with the past few years, but I do believe that these women deserve recognition as a part of celebrating SACSA‘s diversity. Finally, I thank the members of SACSA for the opportunity to lead YOUR Association. I have grown in ways that are indescribable and intangible, but ways that have imprinted my life And heart forever. I thank you for your support, but most importantly, I thank God for the blessing of SACSA in my life! Clay Brown, Ph.D. President 2008-2009 3 SACSA ANNUAL REPORT: FY 2009 (January 1, 2009 – December 31, 2009) Due Friday, December 4, 2009 COMMITTEE NAME: President COMMITTEE CHAIR: Dr. Clay Brown, Vice Chancellor for University Relations and Student Affairs, University of Arkansas at Monticello COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Executive Council: Dr. Sherryl Byrd………….. President-Elect Dr. Colette Taylor………….Past President Ms. Melissa Shivers………..Vice President for Professional Development Ms. Jane Adams-Dunford…Vice President for Partnerships Dr. Roland Bullard……….. Vice President for Constituent Relations Mr. Bill Kelso……………. Vice President for Media (Jan. - June 2009) Mr. Ken Posner…………….Vice President for Media (July - Dec. 2009) Dr. Joe Buck………………. Executive Director Major Appointments: (See attached roster) Mr. Roger Becks…………Conference Program Chair Ms. Amy Coles…………..Conference Local Arrangements Chair Ms. Beth Waltrip………...Nominations Chair Dr. Denisha Sanders……..Strategic Planning Chair/Awards and Recognitions Chair Mr. Ken Posner…………..Mid-managers Institute Dr. Gage Paine…………...New Professionals Institute Mr. Kevin Koett………….Foundation (resigned) Dr. Pam Curtis……………Career Services Dr. Pam Havice…………..Research Mr. Ken Posner…………..Sponsors/Exhibitors Dr. Bob Glenn……………Sponsors/Exhibitors Dr. Dennis Gregory………SACSA Journal Mr. Creston Lynch……….Multicultural Dr. April Heiselt………….Prof. Prep. Programs Dr. Pam Anthony………...Resolutions 4 Mr. Dean Smedley……….Membership Ms. Re‘Nita Meriwether…Membership Ms. Donna Lee Davis…… SACSA‘s Newest Ms. Laura Waltrip………...SACSA‘s Newest (seasoned) Dr. Sherryl Byrd………….Time and Place FUNCTION: The President shall be the executive officer of the Association, Chairperson of the Executive Council and presiding officer at all business sessions of the Association. Subject to the approval of the Executive Council, the President shall appoint all committee chairs to committees except the Nominating Committee unless the method is otherwise specified. The President shall oversee the annual conference including local arrangements, time and place selection, and sponsors and exhibitors. The President shall hold ex-officio membership on all committees except the Nominating Committee. GOALS (08-09): 1. Reconfigure the structure of the Sponsors and Exhibitors Committee within the Association 2. Complete the Strategic Plan 3. Begin to assist the SACSA Foundation with developing a framework to establish Wills and Bequest for the Association; 4. Develop a document that provides a projected timeline for the future Executive Director Model for the Association; 5. Analyze the existing governance structure of the Association