President's Letter
Greetings!
A chill has hit the air and this morning I put my kids on
the school bus. I guess that
means its time to think about a new semester and our next NEACRAO conference.
We have been working very hard the past few months on the
agenda for our November conference in Manchester,
N.H. At the time of this
writing, the program is nearly finalized. This year’s theme is “Building Bridges” and we have
been working hard on strengthening our NEACRAO bridges to be strong enough to
maintain the organization for the foreseeable future.
The most exciting news I can offer is that NEACRAO is now
considered a 501(c)(3) institution in the eyes of the Federal
government. It may not mean a lot
to most of you, but to us it is a huge payoff for two years of dedicated work
by members of the executive board.
You see, among other things, a 501(c)(3) organization is exempt from
sales tax. For us, that means
that if we spend $60,000 on a conference in say Massachusetts, where the sales tax is 5%,
we can save $3000 on that conference.
That may not seem like much, but when you consider our entire budget
is near $100,000, that would represents a 3% increase in income.
We also are excited to announce that we have subcontracted
our web registration service and site selection to Experient. Many of you may know of Experient, and
most of you (if you have attended AACRAO or other large conferences) have
probably used their web registration sites. We hope this will help us to further
“professionalize” our registration. I have been very happy with their site
selection process, and we are currently looking into sites for our conference
in 2010.
Our executive board met in June at the Radisson in Manchester and we are
very excited with our program and with the venue. Please join us! We look forward to “building
bridges” with new friends as well as strengthening bonds with old
friends!
Warm regards,
Patrick Sullivan, NEACRAO President
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MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
2008 Annual
Meeting & Reverse College Day
Manchester, NH
NOVEMBER 5-7, 2008
Building on 60 years of experience as a leader in higher
education, our 61st annual meeting will be held November 5 -7,
2008 in Manchester, New Hampshire. Located in south
central New Hampshire along the Merrimack
River, Manchester NH
is the largest city in northern New England.
Manchester
contains a rich and diverse history that can still be seen today in the
unique architecture, museums, culture, and demographics of the region. Manchester is
- twenty miles from the Massachusetts
border,
- fifty-eight miles from
Boston
and
- An hour’s drive
of destinations such as the seacoast and the lakes region.
The Annual Meeting Program
is shaping up to be one of the best in years, an interesting and diverse
series of conference sessions, filled with many learning and professional
development opportunities. And as always, it will provide a great venue to
connect with colleagues. Hopefully there will be just a little bit of down
time for you to relax and enjoy the heated indoor swimming pool, whirlpool
and fitness center at the hotel.
One of the themes that the program committee will be
considering is “Building Bridges” in which the
many relationships we enjoy and need in the higher education community will
be explored. So cross the bridge over the Merrimack
and join us in Manchester!
Registration will go live in the next couple of weeks. Check
our website for more information about the annual meeting:
www.neacrao.org/annualmeeting.html
(We will also send an email to you when online registration is
available!)
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NEACRAO’s
Keynote Speaker for the 61st Annual Meeting is Walt Stasinski,
What To Do When You Start at 9 am Sharp and End at 9 pm Dull!
When Walt Stasinski speaks, something special happens.
People don't just listen. Or laugh. They learn something. About life. Work.
Themselves. Because Walt knows his audience. He's walked in their shoes, he's
traveled their roads. He knows the challenges they face. Whether it's a
workshop of twenty or an auditorium of two thousand, everyone walks away with
something special. A nugget of wisdom, a new perspective, a way to change
things.
As a successful businessman and educator, Walt has more than a few words of
wisdom to share on subjects like success, leadership and customer care. He
also has a lot to say about attitude. And humor. And how to make the journey
more fun. And through it all he offers solutions that help people get more of
what they want out of life.
Empathic, passionate and down-to-earth, Walt is part teacher, part coach,
part comedian. And all about making a difference. Now that's pretty special.
The keynote is scheduled for Thursday, November 6, 2008,
12:15 – 1:45 p.m.
Don’t miss this great opportunity to learn and
laugh!
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
Congratulations to the Winners of the George Coleman
Scholarship for 2008!
Alexandra Chipman
Essex Agricultural and Technical
High School North Reading, MA
High School Counselor: Mrs. Wendy
Fajardo, M.Ed.
Attending University
of New Hampshire
William David Lindsay, Jr.
Hollis-Brookline
High School
Brookline,
NH
High School Counselor: Kathleen C. Maynard, M.Ed.
Attending: University of Connecticut
Caitlyn Wolcott
Cathedral
High School
Springfield,
MA
High School Counselor: Joan Wolcott
Attending: Springfield Community College
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IN THE NEWS ...
On Our Campuses and in Our World of Higher Education
Senator Obama has offered
proposals to broaden access to higher education, while Senator McCain has
emphasized the use of community colleges to prepare people for jobs requiring
high-level skills.
See the following is an
article from the August 25th Chronicle of Higher Education…
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Tech Corner
Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot about LinkedIn. What is it?
LinkedIn is an online network of more than 25 million
experienced professionals from around the world, representing 150 industries.
When you join, you create a profile that summarizes your professional
accomplishments. Your profile helps you find and be found by former
colleagues, clients, and partners. You can add more connections by inviting
trusted contacts to join LinkedIn and connect to you.
Your network consists of your connections, your connections’
connections, and the people they know, linking you to thousands of qualified
professionals.
Through your network you can:
- Find potential
clients, service providers, and subject experts
- Be found for business
opportunities
- Search for great jobs
- Discover inside
connections that can help you land jobs and close deals
- Post and distribute
job listings
- Find high-quality passive
candidates
- Get introduced to
other professionals through the people you know
LinkedIn is free to join.
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NEACRAO Newsletter, August 2008-
Association Editor: Barbara Casey, Williams
College
The NEACRAO newsletter is published three
times a year, in April, August and October. Contributions from members
(articles, editorials, letters, re-prints-with permission-and
drawings/cartoons) are welcomed. Please email items for publication to: Barbara Casey.
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