Whew! You’re going to have to give me a second before I start this issue’s Vision column. I’m still trying to catch my breath from the whirlwind that was Campus Home. LIVE! last month.
I will be processing all that happened during those days in Portland for quite a while. Sure, I’ve been to ACUHO-I conferences before, but there was something special about this one. I admit that part of it was attending for the first time as the ACUHO-I president, which meant a host of wonderful new opportunities to interact with attendees, award winners, speakers, and colleagues. But I also think there was an energy in the air that other attendees experienced as well.
Much of that energy came from how the Future of the Profession initiative permeated the event. Hopefully you have been keeping up with ACUHO-I’s work in this area. The project has reached its third stage, and, under the inspiring direction of Steve Herndon, the fruits of the labor are becoming evident. Sessions addressed the eight focus areas. Our keynote speaker, April Rinne, helped us learn to manage change, which will be an invaluable skill moving forward. Most dramatically, though, ACUHO-I hosted a general session attended by hundreds of attendees who got to hear from volunteer leaders about the work being done and how we can all benefit from it.
I encourage you to keep connected with ACUHO-I through our website, online community, social media, face-to-face events, and any other opportunity you have to keep abreast of ongoing developments around the Future of the Profession project.
The ACUHO-I Future of the Profession project was created to design a stronger, healthier, and more sustainable campus housing profession. After identifying the most pressing issues and their most pertinent questions, the team has moved on to creating innovative and flexible solutions. In Portland we saw the first wave of deliverables such as frameworks to improve operational learning, advocacy statements around mental health, guides to craft successful memorandums of understanding, and explorations of factors that will shape the halls we construct. Plus, there is much more on the way.
I encourage you to keep connected with ACUHO-I through our website, online community, social media, face-to-face events, and any other opportunity you have to keep abreast of ongoing developments around the Future of the Profession project. Not only will you learn about valuable resources, but you will also, hopefully, be able to add to the body of knowledge. Several groups have identified the need to collect examples of model documents and “better practices” that are already in use on some campuses and would prove useful to many others. I hope you will feel confident in your work and be willing to contribute to our ever-growing toolbox of solutions.
In Portland I reminded people that the very first housing officer conference was convened to address a very specific issue: the wave of soldiers who were arriving on campuses with no space to reside. They knew, way back then, that there was no issue that housing professionals couldn’t solve if they pooled their collective intelligence. That spirit holds true today. Together we have faced challenges, and together we will overcome them. There is no group I’d rather have by my side.
— Leon McClinton, ACUHO-I President
Talking Stick magazine takes its name from the symbol of international friendship presented to ACUHO-I in 1973 by the Ohiat Band of the British Columbia Indian Nation. The talking stick, or speaker’s staff, is hand-carved, and the inscription explains, “It is a sign of authority carried when proclamations are to be made or a meeting of chiefs is in session. It is a token of common heritage both to Canadians and Americans.”