Leadership Notes

Boards prepare for midyear meetings, fall events

By Greg Jordan, Oakland University, NIRSA President

Dear NIRSA Colleagues:

As we feel the excitement of the beginning of a new academic year, on behalf of your Board of Directors, we wish you all the best and success for 2005-06! I hope that you are revitalized, and have had a chance to rekindle the passion in your heart for what we do to improve the quality of life on our campuses for all those we serve!

September will be a busy and important month in the operation of our NIRSA. Both the Foundation Board of Directors and the NIRSA Board of Directors will be conducting annual midyear meetings in Louisville during the week of September 19. Many committees and work teams have been hard at work over the summer dealing with the specific charges assigned to them. Some of the agenda items included for the NIRSA Board of Directors are:

• Recommendations from the Finance Committee regarding the approval of the 2006 operating budget
• Report from the Professional Registry Work Team, including the results of the Zoomerang survey (last day to participate is September 9)
• Review and advancement of the Strategic Map, including discussion of standards
• Reports from the Conference Host Committee Chair, Dale Ramsay (University of Louisville), and the Program Chair, Past President Tammy Garstka, on plans for the 2006 Annual Conference

I invite Members to contact their regional Vice President, National Student Representative or any of the Presidents in advance of the meetings to share concerns or views regarding any NIRSA activity. The Board of Director meetings are open to any Member, so if you are in the Louisville area, please feel free to attend.

As we break from the midyear meetings, Board Members will be attending all of the regional conferences, as well as all five of the state workshops in Region III, over the months of October and November. We will certainly provide updates regarding progress of our NIRSA. In addition, we will seek feedback from Members on significant initiatives, such as credentials (Registry or CRSS), standards and others. We are looking forward to the opportunity for face-to- face interaction!

Finally, I would like to recognize two groups of our Membership. First, a big thank you goes in advance to all of the hosts and program planners for the upcoming regional and state workshops, as well as the National Recreation Facilities Institute and the National Aquatics Institute. Your service to our NIRSA is appreciated by all. Second, I would like to extend congratulations to NIRSA Services Corporation President Mick Deluca (UCLA), the NSC Board of Directors and the NIRSA National Center team on successfully negotiating the pilot program for the distribution of Sports Illustrated on Campus through NIRSA and our campus facilities. I believe we all feel that this program has tremendous potential.

Again, please feel free to contact any of the Board Members with your questions, concerns or comments.