News

NIRSA Board of Directors, Student Leadership Team meet at NIRSA National Center

Highlights from the Summer Meetings

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Attendees of the 2007 Summer Board Meeting. • FRONT ROW: Sev-Ira’ Brown, 05-07 Region I Vice President; Maureen McGonagle, Past President; Tom Kirch, President; Kent J. Blumenthal, NIRSA Executive Director; Therese Kennedy, 05-07 Region III Vice President; Stacey Hall, Region III Vice President. • SECOND ROW: Amy Jo Jenkins, 06-07 National Student Representative; Mick McComber, Region V Vice President; George Brown, Region II Vice President; Mike Waldron, Region IV Vice President; Kurt Klier, Region I Vice President. • BACK ROW: Diane Sylofski, National Student Representative; J. Michael Dunn, Past Presidents’ Representative; Jen de-Vries, Region VI Vice President; Vicki Highstreet, President-elect.

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The 2007-2008 Student Leadership Team: Anne MacDonald, Region I; Jennifer Minton, Region II; Reid Frye, Region IV; Erik Jaeke, Region V; Diane Sylofski, National Student Representative; Kelli Whall, Region VI; Sarah Shouvlin, Region III.

President Tom Kirch presided over the Summer Board Meeting at the NIRSA National Center June 25-28. In addition, the NIRSA Student Leadership Team, led by National Student Representative Diane Sylofski, met to develop strategies for the coming year.

Highlights of the board meeting include:

2007 NIRSA Member Survey

The Board reviewed the summary report analysis provided by Dr. Danell Haines from the Research Institute, as well as observations from NNC staff. Dr. Haines reported that, “For the most part, NIRSA Members are very satisfied with the services and opportunities that NIRSA provides.” Further, she said, “From the Strategic Map agree/disagree data, it can be surmised that NIRSA Members concur with the direction that the map is taking the association.” The survey results will continue to be a reference platform for future decisions. The complete survey results, along with the summary report, are available on the Members Only website.

Funding approved for NIRSA Historian to attend HBCU Summit

The Board approved a funding request to allow for NIRSA Historian Paul Wilson to attend the HBCU Summit, taking place August 6 in Baltimore, Maryland.

Member recruitment strategy

NNC staff presented a membership recruitment plan for fall 2007 and 2008.

• Rollout of NIRSA Health & Wellness Passport Program presented by Matrix.
• Focus on expanding membership in the following categories (based on the results from the 2007 Member Survey):
  • Small four-year schools
  • HBCUs

Emeritus Membership

The Board approved the first emeritus application received, following the new criteria. This special recognition has been awarded to Patricia Besner, who retired from the University of Toledo on June 29, 2007.

Strategic Map

The Board reviewed the strategic map and discussed priorities and capacity of operational plans for the future.

Professional Registry Work Team Report

Phase II Report was submitted to Board for consideration. The Board requested additional information regarding possible costs, and an update is expected by the Mid-Year Board Meeting.

Student Leadership Team

The SLT met with the Board and sat in on the last day of Board meetings. The SLT also met on June 29 to begin to develop strategies for the coming year.

Vice President evaluations

The process and results of the pilot survey were discussed. The Board will continue to utilize this type of survey to learn and improve from member feedback.

Sustainability Knowledge Community

Chair Pam Su, Sonoma State University, submitted recommendations for the Board to review (see related story).

Governance

The Board and Governance Commission had extensive discussions to help provide framework for key discussions in the near future.

Updates from Executive Director’s Report

• Higher Education Associations’ Sustainability Consortium (HEASC)
  The sustainability consortium is a network of higher education associations with a commitment to advancing sustainability in our constituencies and in the system of higher education itself. NIRSA staff recommended to the Board that NIRSA continue to be affiliated with HEASC.
   
  Plans are in place to deliver NIRSA’s first webinar on “Education for a Sustainable Future” to help promote sustainability in campus recreation, targeted for fall 2007.

• Financial update
  An audit for FY2006 will be performed by Moss Adams, L.L.P. in July 2007. The results will be reported at the 2007 Mid-Year Board Meeting. The Board also received a FY2007 year-to-date report, and plans for FY2008 budget preparation.

• Most award applications can now be submitted online
  Nearly all of NIRSA’s awards now employ an electronic application process, with two exceptions: the Outstanding Sports Facilities (OSF) and Creative Excellence Awards (CEAs). To further our sustainability efforts, workable solutions are being explored for those awards as well.

• Web-based archiving of committee, work team, and State Director documents
  Items such as rosters, committee/work team charges, and committee reports will be archived, beginning with September 2006 documents. Additionally, the archives will eventually include Board responses to committee/work team requests. We anticipate that this project will be very time consuming and labor intensive. Target completion date is January 31, 2008.

• Listservs & forums
  Presently, we are limited to no more than eight (8) listservs due to hosting and server requirements, though additional listservs have been requested by member stakeholders. A comprehensive analysis of all listserv and online forum options is expected to be completed by mid-2008.

• New Higher Ed component coming to website
  The NNC will be adding a Higher Education section to the “About Us” portion of the NIRSA website to highlight our significant and growing involvement in this area. Important information regarding our participation in CHEMA, CAS, SAHEC, HEASC, and other relevant organizations will be housed and updated here. The new component is expected to be added to the website by September 1, 2007.

• Council of Higher Education Management Associations (CHEMA)
  NIRSA Executive Director Kent Blumenthal is currently serving the initial year of a two-year term as Chair of the CHEMA Steering Committee.

A big thank you to outgoing Region I Vice President Sev-Ira’ Brown and Region III Vice President Therese Kennedy for their service to the association over the past two years, and to outgoing National Student Representative Amy Jo Jenkins for her year of service.