PNACAC

I just got back from a quick trip to Tacoma . . . wasn't sure I was going to make it home. Every flight from Seattle to Portland was delayed or canceled last night and then when I got to Portland they threatened to cancel my Klamath Falls flight.

It's been my privilege to serve on the board of the Pacific Northwest Association for College Admission Counseling for the last five years. This year, I'm the president and yesterday we had a board meeting on the campus of Pacific Lutheran University.

I wasn't sure how this meeting would go . . . We had a lot of business to do, there had been a snow "storm" in Seattle last week, over one-third of the board members had to be absent and we were trying to write a new mission statement, something that can be quite difficult and even contentious. With this group, I wasn't too worried about that last item, though.

We started the meeting by listing about phrases and words that came to mind when we thought about PNACAC's purpose, its business (what it does) and its values. Later, we shared our lists and began discussing our perspectives. An immediate question was whether we exist to serve students or to serve our members. This was a discussion that could have easily sidetracked us but I was amazed at how quickly we arrived at some agreement: We serve members so they can serve students.

Early on, Ralph Burrelle, our president-elect, suddenly popped up with a suggested wording for our mission. This made me very nervous because I thought it would short-circuit discussion and keep us from thoroughly considering all perspectives. But there seemed to be consensus that the group wanted to go that route so I "led" the board in that direction. (Remember the old joke about the politician saying "There go my people, I must get in front of them and lead them"?)

Anyway, that ended up being a good move as we wordsmithed Ralph's quick draft and ended up with what we think is a pretty good product. Now we're going to survey some members of the association to get their feedback on the mission statement and two other versions we had on hand.

Being a part of PNACAC has been a great experience for me. When we were thinking about the "purpose" of the association, for me the main thing that came to mind was the opportunity to network and build relationships. Without PNACAC these past five years, I think I would feel very isolated and unengaged professionally. Instead, I've gotten to know some great people--Teri Calcagno, Ann Nault, Ralph Burrelle, Todd Abbott, Robin Brown, to name a few--and can feel like I've actually made some small contribution to the profession. And I think there's been a pay-off for OIT, too, as I've gotten connected with colleagues and folks have become more familiar with the Oregon Institute of Technology name.

Serving on the PNACAC board has been a fair amount of work, especially the last 18 months, but it's been very rewarding. It's also given me the fantastic opportunity to travel to places like Boston and Denver and to Washington DC to lobby Congress. I would recommend it to anyone.