In late April International ACAC polled its members to help advise the executive board on crucial challenges facing our organization. An analysis of the three major questions we posed is provided below.
by Sherrie Huan
Not on American Idol. Not in a Karaoke room, but through voting.
Earlier on Saturday, your International ACAC delegates were very active during the five-hour Assembly Meeting. “The NACAC Assembly functions as a governing body that initiates, advises and provides consent on association and professional issues. Assembly delegates are elected for three-year terms by the NACAC voting members in the Affiliates.” It is during Assembly that the NACAC Board of directors and president is elected, and changes to the SPGP: CEPP are debated and voted. International ACAC made two formal motions. The first involves a request to NACAC to review the affiliate jurisdiction of the Admission Practices Procedure - to better allow a voice for our AP Committee team to represent our members in National AP cases. The second motion made was to form a NACAC Commission to review standardized testing access and barriers to International students. After considerable debate, which helped to draw the attention to both, particularly the testing access issues international students, both motions passed! 
Overall this was one of the most powerful NACAC Conferences i have ever attended. Likely it had much to do with my position this time as a President of an affiliate, but in addition, it was something else that I know many others felt. It was the inspiring opening speech by NACAC President David Burge and the high quality of sessions (many focusing on student access and a growing number on international issues). It was the energy in our own membership meeting attended by well over 200, and above all it was the buzz throughout the week collectively knowing that we can make a difference, not only by having a voice in our own profession, but helping our students who will be the change for tomorrow. by Johanna Fishbein, Past-President, International ACAC
We always tell our students that it’s important they get involved in their community; whether that’s service, activities, sports, and much more - universities value involvement. Well... we at International ACAC feel the same way; we want our members involved!
We fully recognize that time is not something readily available, so there are many different ways to get involved - some that require much more of a time commitment than others. In February of 2018 we held a webinar on Getting Involved with International ACAC which you can access here. As we look to 2019, here are some ways you can consider getting involved:
Last Spring the International ACAC board placed their votes for three awards that honor leaders in our field. These include the Distinguished Service Award, the Rising Star Award, and the Peter Hauet Lifetime Achievement Award. This year the awards went to some inspiring individuals who have made big contributions to International ACAC over the years.
Jenny Tassell and Christine Grover were selected for the International ACAC Rising Star Award for their service to their students and our community, especially due to their tireless work in organizing the recent International ACAC Regional Institute in Panama City.
Jenny writes, “Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this great honor. There is really no other association like International ACAC. I have been lucky enough to have some amazing mentors who have encouraged me to keep pushing myself towards goals that have seemed too challenging at times. Fred Johnson, Juan Camilo Tamayo, Ray Marx, Meg Mahoney, Christine Grover, and Jolynn Vallejo to name a few. Everyone in this association wants its members to become more involved and they will encourage you every step of the way.
In Panama it all started with helping to create the Panama School Counselor Association (PASCA). With the amazing counselors in Panama we worked hard to help Panama become a place that was easy to navigate and welcoming to all university reps that came here. We created the PASCA website which has become a model for other countries.
A UK All Party Parliamentary Group is currently conducting an inquiry into international students in the UK. Details of the inquiry:
http://www.exeduk.com/appg-for-international-students/inquiry
The Advocacy and Outreach Committee are keen to submit a written response to this by the deadline of 3rd September.
The focus of the response will be from high school and independent counsellors as our UK HE members views will be represented by UUK. We will however work with UUK to ensure our responses are coordinated as much as possible. In order to capture the views of high school and independent counsellors AOC have developed a brief survey for high school and independent members:
by Aaron Andersen
President-Elect, International ACAC
University of British Columbia
Recently there has been questions raised regarding the International ACAC policy enacted several years ago to restrict the Facebook Group to a closed group that requires membership in the Association. As the VP Communications during the years the Board adopted this policy for the Facebook page, I wanted to address the reasons behind this approach.
Webinar Wednesday
Get Involved 2020 - Elections & Committees
December 4
Supporting LGBT+ & Non-Binary Students
January 8
Vancouver International Universities Fair
April 19, 2020
Vancouver Convention Centre
East Asia & Pacific Regional Institute
May 1-3, 2020
Location TBD
2020 Conference
July 14-17, 2020
University of New Mexico
