President’s Report 2017 Annual General Meeting

Patricia Pardo, Mount Royal University.

Hola CACUSS members!!

This past year has been another busy and productive one for your CACUSS Board. The Board focused its attention primarily on the following key initiatives:

The New 5 Year Strategic Plan

We spent a considerable amount of time reviewing and revising the Association’s Strategic Plan. Building on the excellent work of our 2012-2016 plan, the new 2017-2021 strategic plan articulates an inspiring vision, confirms our mission and outlines the five goals necessary to advance our mission and realize our new vision.

Our Vision: CACUSS and its members are integral to the transformation and success of the post-secondary sector in Canada.

Our Mission: to advance the student affairs and services profession in Canada

Our Goals:

  1. Professional Development: CACUSS will offer comprehensive, robust, innovative, leading-edge learning opportunities to its members.
  2. Knowledge, Research and Insight: CACUSS will provide relevant, reliable and valued knowledge about Canadian Student Affairs and Services.
  3. Inclusive Membership: CACUSS will offer a wide variety of avenues for meaningful member engagement in the association.
  4. Impact of the Profession: CACUSS and its members will foster the development of Student Affairs and Services in Canada to ensure that the profession is universally valued and widely understood.
  5. Advocacy and Influence:CACUSS’ individual and collective expertise will support member’s advocacy interests for change in policy, practice, and priorities for students in post-secondary education.

Membership Structure Review

With a mandate from the CACUSS Board, our membership structure was reviewed under the guidance of a Membership Review Committee, and an outside consultant. A number of membership options were considered to meet the needs of different types of members. The goal was to build in more membership value, encourage more institutional memberships, and make it easier for individuals to join.

The committee consisted of a small group of senior student affairs officers representing regional diversity and institution type along with the Past-President of CACUSS and the Executive Director. Two in-person meetings and several teleconference meetings were held to thoroughly investigate the benefits and challenges of our current structure and the consideration of alternate future models.

Consultation with Senior Student Affairs Officers

CACUSS President Pat Pardo, past-President David Newman and Executive Director Jennifer Hamilton met with two groups of Senior Student Affairs Officers(SSAOs) (AACUSS/WESTSAA) in the fall of 2016 to discuss how CACUSS might better engage with them as a group and they might enhance their support of CACUSS. CACUSS also received feedback from OSCA (Ontario group of university SSAOs).

The themes that emerged from theconsultationswere: involvement in the Association, participation in the conference and otherProfessionalDevelopment needs. In response to the feedback received by CACUSS, a number of actions have been undertaken, including:

  • CACUSS has organized a full day workshop for SSAOs at this conference
  • CACUSS has revisited its role in Advocacy as a result of a consultation with SSAOs from across the country
  • CACUSS will explore the possibility of an “Executive Track” of sessions at future conferences
  • CACUSS has enhanced the SSAO experiencein the new membership structure review

Board Sub-Committees and Assembly

Board sub-committees and the Assembly of Communities of Practice also made significant contributions to advancing the work of the Board. Highlights include:

The Professional Development Committee has:

  • discussed the role of the committee in light of the hiring of a PD Manager
  • reviewed and provided feedback to the PD Manager about new PD offerings being considered
  • developednew terms of reference

The Research and Awards Committee has:

  • considered 12 research grant/special project applications in October and November and awarded over $15,000 in grants to 4 recipients
  • given out 6 conference bursaries
  • handled Award nominations and updated criteria and rubrics for some of CACUSS’ awards
  • developed a new “Student Affairs Research Agenda” draft which will form the basis for CACUSS to further shape our direction and support for Canadian Student Affairs research

The Policy Committee has:

  • developed an In Camera Policy (Submitted to the Board, March 2017)
  • established an ethics Review Policy (in infancy stage)
  • created a partnership Policy (in 4th draft)
  • began developing a Privacy Policy (in research stage)
  • constructed a Code of Conduct (prioritized after Privacy Policy is drafted)
  • established a Management Policy (in draft)
  • revised the Policy Manual (format standards are being drafted)
  • identifiedexisting policies that may require revision, significant alteration, or deletion
  • created a schedule for policy revisions

The Advocacy Workng Group has:

  • over the past year, and in the context of strategic planning, contemplated the advocacy efforts and needs of the association
  • formed a task force to provide the board with some input into how CACUSS could best support the advocacy efforts of its members
  • presented the task force’s recommendations to the Board

The Nominations, Elections and Leadership Development Committee has:

  • Held elections for President-Elect and 3 At-Large positions
  • Selected candidates for all of the committee roles

The Assembly of CACUSS Communities of Practice has:

  • formeda sub-committee to begin writing the Operational Procedures to complement the Terms of Reference
  • identified and selected four projects to work on: CoP cycle of the year, on-boarding/orientation of new co-chairs, communication protocols and webinars
  • developedGuidelines for Succession Planning for CACUSS CoP Co-Chairs
  • created an application and approval process for new Co-Chairs
  • invitedcurrent and incoming co-chairs to attend the Assembly meeting at this conference to help with transitioning the new leadership within the Communities

International Work

CACUSS was involved in a number of international conferences over this past year to share the Canadian perspective on our profession and to contribute to the advancement of the field as a whole.

Global Summit on Student Affairs and Services (Stellenbosch University, South Africa)

Two CACUSS delegates were invited to the Global Summit; Jennifer Hamilton (Executive Director) and David Newman (Past-President) were in attendance and had theopportunity to meet with international student affairs and services organizations from around the world. They had the opportunity to highlight the CACUSS Competencies Model to those in attendance. CACUSS also worked together with other groups to develop a response on the UNESCO Mid-Range Strategy, and learned how other countries used and applied this document

Canadian Reception at the NASPA and ACPA Conferences

CACUSS hosted a Canadian reception at the NASPA Annual Conference for approximately 40 attendees in Texas and a reception at the ACPA Annual Conference in Ohio with approximately 35 attendees.

In conclusion, wow, what an awesome year! I would like to take this opportunity to say muchas gracias to the Board, the Board Sub-committees, the CoP Co-Chairs, the CoP members and all out amazing volunteers for their excellent service this past year. And, of course, I would like to specially thank, for all their assistance all year long, our great CACUSS staff and our exceptional Executive Director!!It has been both a privilege and a pleasure to work with such an amazing group of Student Affairs and Services colleagues.

Muchas Gracias!!

Page | 1