Letter to the Board of Directors on behalf of Region IV-West

Colleagues,

Thursday morning I will be heading to the NASPA Board of Directors Winter meeting where amongst other items the hot topic will be consolidation.  Based upon feedback from many of you while in Omaha and the IV-West Advisory Board, I will be presenting this letter to the Board as part of the Region IV-West report.  It should be noted that this letter does not require any type of action by the board -- it is intended to inform the board of the regions wishes in regards to any implementation of a consolidation IF it passes the membership vote.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Eric

NASPA Advisory Board:

Region IV-West held its regional conference Nov. 3rd – 5th in Omaha Nebraska. The conference was a resounding success, and the conversation around unification was civil. There were a number of points in the discussion that raised concerns for colleagues on both sides of the argument. Those points will be outlined here and asked to be on record for the transition team if the consolidation vote is affirmative.

Districts
Region IV-West has for its history been a very strong region with regional conference attendance ranging between 275-350. Like other regions, we have the challenge of few colleges in individual states with large distances between them; however, we have been able to integrate all states and members into our regional community. The proposal for consolidation breaks this region up into three different districts, fracturing relationships and partnerships that have been created over the years.

Specifically we have the following concerns:
• Removal of Arkansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico dramatically decreases the amount of diversity within our region. Region IV-W has created and maintains a culture of respect and celebration within our rich diversity. It is the networking amongst the states that increases the opportunity for predominately white institutions to recruit and retain staff members of color to institutions that they may not have been interested in otherwise.
• At this time, Arkansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico feel as though they have a strong voice in their home region as a result of their involvement. They believe moving them in with Texas will limit that voice as it has with their involvement in other organizations.
• Finances: Region IV-West has historically hosted high quality conferences while being financially conservative. As a result, we have been able to grow the region’s reserves to an all-time high on the off chance that a conference fails financially. The proposal speaks nothing of how those funds will be distributed if the region is split into three separate districts.

It is our recommendation that any implementation team work to keep Region IV-West as it is, with the finances that they have been able to manage intact for use within that district as well.


Undergraduate Fellows
Region IV-W provides learning opportunities and venues that respond to the needs of members across the spectrum of experience and professional position. One such program is the Undergraduate Fellows Program. The proposal doesn’t speak to the continuance of the Undergraduate Fellows program and while ACPA has an emerging leaders institute, it doesn’t appear to have the same focus as the Fellows program. We believe this program has been critical in improving the number of underrepresented students working in and with our institutions. Failure to continue this type of program would be incredibly detrimental to those of us in the Midwest. It has been an engagement tool on our campuses, as well as a recruitment tool in our profession.

Governance Structure
With only one district representative on the governance structure, it is the consensus of our Advisory Board that it will be more difficult to get initiatives heard at the national level. At this time, an initiative from a member can be brought to a regional advisory board meeting and then if approved be presented at the National Board meeting within a couple of months. At this point it is not clear to many how initiatives from districts would reach the national board, and to which board they would actually go.

Respectfully Submitted,


Eric Grospitch, Ed.D.
Region IV-West Vice President