Talking Stick - November/December 2014 - 6

vision

Strategic Projects
Happy November! I hope that the late part of the fall term is going well for all and that the goals
that were established for your department, as well as your personal goals, are moving forward.
Your association is looking forward as well. This October, ACUHO-I's Executive and
Foundation boards met with a consultant, Jean Frankel, to outline the next strategic
steps for our association. We are focusing our discussions on data collected from
surveys that our members have completed over the past two years, as well as
member trends and what is happening in residence life and housing and in higher
education. We hope to have a final product to share with the membership prior to the
2015 annual conference.

We are
focusINg our
DIscussIoNs
oN DaTa
collecTeD
from surveys
ThaT our
members have
compleTeD
over The pasT
TWo years. . .

As part of this year's board, I had the opportunity to appoint up to two exofficio positions. When looking at the landscape of housing and residence life, there
were two areas I felt would be helpful to our strategic thinking. The first was our
association's relationship with faculty colleagues in higher education. Dawn Johnson,
an associate professor in the School of Education at Syracuse University in New York,
is providing leadership and guidance on making formal connections to programs
across the country and identifying what partnerships with faculty can be cultivated.
Should you have suggestions or ideas for her, she can be reached at drjohn02@syr.
edu.
The second area being investigated is the pathways that not only bring staff of color
into this profession but also retain them. Alvin Sturdivant, the associate vice president
at Seattle University in Washington, is leading an assessment that will review what
other professional associations are doing for staff of color. He also will spend time
understanding the experience that staff of color have on their campuses. Through this
process he will report his findings and suggestions for ACUHO-I. Please reach out to
Alvin at sturdial@seattleu.edu if you have any thoughts to share on the subject.

These two appointments come at a perfect time to assist in our association's
strategic planning process. Your voice in the process is critical. Completing surveys,
providing your feedback whenever asked, and joining in on the learning-throughlistening chats I am having with members are all ways that you can share your thoughts on
ACUHO-I's next five years. If a member of your institution has not yet participated in a one-onone chat that eight volunteers and I have been having, please drop me a tweet or an email. Our
goal is to speak to at least 50 percent of our members, and we are almost at the halfway point.
Good luck with the remainder of the term.
Sincerely,
Tom Ellett
ACUHO-I President

Te13@nyu.edu
@TeEllett

TalkiNg STick

Talking Stick - November/December 2014

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