SEAHO Report - Winter 2020 - 4

SEAHO President
Hello SEAHO Friends & Colleagues!
I hope this SEAHO Winter Edition finds you doing well and counting down
the days to SEAHO 2020. I must admit that is a bit surreal to be writing my
last SEAHO Presidential Letter for the SEAHO Report. SEAHO 2020 will
mark my 16th straight SEAHO conference. I have come a long way from
the Harvill Hall Council President role that began my housing journey at
Austin Peay State University. SEAHO is my professional home and has
given me so much through the years.
We are just days away from SEAHO 2020. I hope you are making plans to
attend our annual gathering. The wonderful Renee Richard-Gonce and her
excellent host team, have been hard at work for over the past year
preparing for your arrival to beautiful Louisville, KY. The theme of this
year's conference is "Future in Focus" and we hope to help you spend a few days focusing, reflecting,
networking, recharging, and engaging in the housing profession. I want to thank LaFarin Meriwether
and the Program Committee for their work with slating programs for the conference and for securing
Dr. Alvin Sturdivant as the keynote speaker. I am confident you will benefit from the wide array
of programs that have been slated for the conference. Jeremy Bowersox and the Corporate Partner
Committee have helped to fill the Exhibit Hall and our exhibitors are eager to connect with you at the
conference. I am grateful to the sponsors and exhibitors of SEAHO. Their giving continues to help
SEAHO remain one of the most affordable conference experiences for housing professionals.
This past year has been filled with a great deal of SEAHO memories. I have hosted the executive
board in Richmond, VA, had the opportunity to represent SEAHO at ACUHO-I 2019 Annual
Conference, led numerous zoom meetings, and worked closely with the Governing Council and
Executive Board on numerous initiatives for the membership. During the past year, we have worked
to put forth a proposal for a new SEAHO 2020-2025 Strategic Plan. The plan can be viewed at
https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.seaho.org/resource/resmgr/--2020_conference--/seaho_2020_to_2025_
strategic.pdf. The Governing Council approved a SEAHO Grievance Policy that outlines a process for
SEAHO members to bring forth incidents of concern. We really focused on document clean up in both
the Leadership Manual and SEAHO Constitution. Check out the various items that will be discussed
at the SEAHO 2020 Business Meeting items at https://www.seaho.org/page/2020businessmeeting.pdf.
Valuable Task Force work was completed on behalf of the association to include: 1) SEAHO Structure
led by Dr. Megan Becker, 2) SEAHO Website, Technology, and Communications led by Kaila
Kowalski, 3) SEAHO Placement led by Kat Mortensen, and 4) Work Group Focused on SEAHO
relationship with Corporate Partners led by Daniel Sheets and Kevin Baker. Throughout this past year
the Conference Coordinators were selected and will be SEAHO 2022 Bob Boyle, SEAHO 2023
Dr. Megan Becker, and SEAHO 2024 Dr. Zach Blackmon. Lastly, a small group has been working
diligently on planning and selecting the SEAHO 2022, 2023, and 2024 future conference sites. The
site finalist will be announced at SEAHO 2020. It really is the effort of many that encompass the work
of the association.
I will end my message with some heartfelt thanks to many that have helped me over the last year. I
am grateful to have had the chance to work with an extremely talented executive board, governing
council, and host committee. I want to thank them for their time, effort, and energy this past year. The
commitment of the people within SEAHO is truly what makes us such a strong association. I have had
the opportunity to work with great professionals from across our region. I would like to thank Virginia
Commonwealth University and the Residential Life and Housing department. I am fortunate to have
had the support of my housing family, my supervisor, Dr. Curt Erwin, and of Senior Vice Provost,

https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.seaho.org/resource/resmgr/--2020_conference--/seaho_2020_to_2025_strategic.pdf https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.seaho.org/resource/resmgr/--2020_conference--/seaho_2020_to_2025_strategic.pdf https://www.seaho.org/page/2020businessmeeting.pdf

SEAHO Report - Winter 2020

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