President’s Update: NACAC gathering in a snowy Washington DC

President-Elect Anne Kremer and President Mike Dunker at NACAC’s headquarters in Washington D.C. for leadership training

By Mike Dunker, President

I just finished two days of leadership training in Washington D.C. Leaders from all of NACAC’s affiliates gathered for a very informative two days but unfortunately the weather did not allow us to visit our legislators as we had originally planned. A winter storm forced all of the government offices to shut down; it also cancelled all flights back to Chicago. So I’m sitting in my hotel room writing this update. However, at least I’m stranded here with some great people: Annie Kremer, our President-elect, Bill Morrison, Bob Zigmund, and Bob Skorczewski, our Government Relations Committee Chairmen. As always, I was very proud of the people from Illinois. We are definitely looked to as leaders in NACAC!

Another activity involving our Government Relations Committee takes place in March, in conjunction with our Executive Board meeting. On Thursday, March 20th, a large contingent of IACAC members will be in Springfield to talk with our State Legislators about issues concerning education. The IACAC Board meeting will take place the day before at the University of Illinois at Springfield.

Registration for the Annual Conference is open. The conference takes place April 30- May 2 at the Westin Hotel in Itasca. I would encourage all of you to take advantage of this wonderful professional development opportunity. Register online

Our District Seminars are taking place over the next few weeks; there are seven different seminars throughout the state. The first one took place March 6 and more will continue through the month of March. Many thanks to Meghan Cooley, Kathy Major and Jason Swann for serving as the chairs for this committee.

I am happy to report that both the Plane O’Fun and the Micro-Tour are full. This means 80 counselors are going to have the opportunity to tour college campuses in the Carolinas and the St. Louis area. Thanks to Natalie Rubino and Matt Kirby along with their committees for organizing these events.

As you can see IACAC has many things going on. Even more opportunities for professional development take place this summer. Keep your eye on the web page for information.