The next President-Elect of TACAC is Mickey Saloma, Assistant Dean of Recruitment, Retention, and Alumni Relations at the Lyle School of Engineering of Southern Methodist University. Mickey has been an active member of TACAC for many years and he is looking forward to this new role. He hopes to hear from members, either at the conference or via email, about their hopes for TACAC in the years to come. In the meantime, meet Mickey here on the blog.

Why did you want to serve as TACAC's President:

In addition to our annual conference, April is also the month when new committee chairs and delegates join the TACAC Executive Board. We are pleased to introduce you to the new members of the executive board.

Mackenzie Burns, Communications Committee Chair

Having met SACAC earlier this week, we'd like to also introduce you to the Rocky Mountain Association for College Admission Counseling. We're excited to welcome our RMACAC colleagues to San Antonio for the Super Conference this month!

In preparation for the TACAC-SACAC-RMACAC Super Conference this month, we want to introduce you to the Southern Association for College Admission Counseling. We're looking forward to welcoming our SACAC colleagues to San Antonio!

With the student and mentor application deadlines fast approaching (EXTENDED TO APRIL 15!!), Camp College 2017 will be here soon. An initiative of the Inclusion, Access and Success committee, Camp College is a college preparation program targeted to prepare a diverse group of students from across the state of Texas for college. By working directly with students and developing the professional experiences of the program’s mentors, Camp College speaks directly to the mission of TACAC.

Held on college campuses throughout Texas, Camp College is a 3-day residential program that welcomes approximately 120 students for college application readiness education. The program's 40 mentors will guide students through the program. Last year’s Camp College was graciously hosted by the University of Texas at Arlington and 2017’s event will take place June 5-7 at Southern Methodist University.

By Todd Rinehart, Chair of the Steering Committee on Admission Practices

The NACAC Board of Directors last year appointed a Steering Committee on Admission Practices to examine the association’s Statement of Principles of Good Practice (SPGP). The committee was charged with modernizing the principles of the SPGP, developing content to include cohorts of students and members not adequately addressed in the current document, and ensuring the SPGP is relevant in a changing enrollment landscape.  

As an organization committed to developing college admission counseling professionals, TACAC is pleased to share recent state and national news articles that may help you grow as a professional.

Texas News

Texas Lawmakers Search for Ways to Avoid Wasted College Credits (The Texas Tribune)
State lawmakers consider ways to ensure courses taken at community colleges will transfer to four-year universities.

Do you hear the sound of barcodes scanning and luggage wheels hitting the parking lot pavement? It’s time for the Spring college fairs! High school juniors and their families will be navigating large exhibition halls around Texas in the coming months, and we’ve got tips for both you and your students to maximize the college fair experience! Whether you’re a seasoned counselor or a fresh-faced recruiter, read on for our best practices.

DO bring enough fair materials. Thousands of students will be attending each of the NACAC and TACAC fairs, and a lot of them may utilize the “grab-n-go” method. Plan accordingly. Table pop-up? Banner? Business cards? Check, check, and triple check before you hit park at the fair’s location.

The TACAC Fellows program is one of the best ways to get involved with TACAC, and offers unparalleled access to the annual conference.  The Fellows Program is sponsored by the Inclusion, Access, and Success committee, and is designed to enable professionals who work with students from under-represented populations and who work in settings adversely affected by budget cuts of limitations to take advantage of all that TACAC and its members have to offer.

As a 2016 Annual Conference Fellow who was in the middle of my first year of college counseling at a Title I school in Dallas, I could not have imagined the opportunities the Fellows Program would afford me.  Because of my participation, I was able to attend the conference, something I may not have been able to do had it not been for the grant I received, which would have kept me from being able to attend the information sessions on SB5, Prior-Prior Year financial aid information, the Coalition App, and Letters of Recommendation, each of which directly impacted the way I work with my students every day.  As a new counselor, every session I attended provided valuable context to my work and helped me to become a better adviser to my scholars and peer to every other counselor and admissions representative with whom I interact.  I was also awarded a complementary one year TACAC membership, and was given accommodations at the 2016 conference. However, the biggest benefits I received from the Fellows program were the connections I made and the people I met, many of whom I now consider friends and mentors.

Twenty members of the TACAC Executive Board met in San Antonio January 27-28 for the quarterly executive meeting. These meetings allow the committee chairs, president's council, and delegates time to plan for the direction of the organization, share feedback and ideas about ongoing or upcoming initiatives, and work to realize the goals of TACAC.

The focus of the winter meeting was strategy planning and fiduciary planning. In the course of our strategy planning conversation, we quickly realized that we needed a more comprehensive view of TACAC's programs throughout the year in conjunction with NACAC programs and larger admission timeline calendar.  Calendar-based planning and alignment of programs will continue down to sub-committees and other TACAC events over the next several months.

Dear Members,

The Texas Association for College Admission Counseling's (TACAC) vision statement is to develop professionals committed to providing the highest quality counseling to ensure students' access to and persistence through post-secondary education.  We are governed by the values of service, professionalism, mutual respect, cooperation and communication, creativity and innovation, diversity and individualism, and ethics.  These values and ideals are critical to our organization and the work we do to support students who are entrusted in our care.

Hello from San Antonio! TACAC members are currently attending the first TACAC event of 2017: the Middle Management Institute (MMI). This two-day event is hosted at the University of Texas at San Antonio Downtown campus on January 26-27. The program features a variety of education sessions and case studies with higher education professionals.

MMI is tailored for admissions personnel who have been in the field for 4+ years and hold some form of leadership in his or her office. These professionals seek to eventually be top-level leaders in the admission and enrollment management field. This event helps attendees better shape their personal visions for their roles within the office and among their supervisees. The program also enables attendees to discuss the profession and best practices with others in similar roles and in leadership positions.

As educational professionals, we follow many different calendars. The calendar year of January through December is important, mostly to make sure we're writing the correct date on checks and forms. To many of us, the academic year is more important, building our lives in August-to-July increments. Much of the work of TACAC's year begins in April, at our annual conference. This year, I'm especially looking forward to the membership meeting and luncheon on Monday, April 24 because at that meeting we will learn about the newest leaders in TACAC and this year's award winners.

As a member-driven organization, TACAC relies on the service of professionals in our field to keep the organization moving forward and doing the things that you count on TACAC to do. Executive Board members and their committee members create the valuable programming offered by TACAC. Assembly delegates represent the needs of Texas college counseling and college admission professionals at the national assembly. And the president leads all of these dedicated professionals in pursuit of the organization's goals. You now have the opportunity to put forth yourself or a colleague for one of these important roles in order to take on a position starting with our new TACAC year in April. The following positions are open:

Dear TACAC,

As you begin to wind down from this fall admission cycle and 2016 comes to a close, TACAC wants to thank you for your continued hard work and support in helping students navigate the admissions process and ensuring that each student and family have the tools they need.

Name: Abijah Kratochvil
Position/Title: Coordinator of New Student Orientation & Campus tours
Current institution: San Jacinto College
How long have you been in the profession? I have been working in higher education for over 5 years.

Give us some background! Where are you from, where did you grow up, a little info on what you do in your position at San Jacinto?
I grew up on a farm in north central Arkansas, which my fiancé likes to tease me about. I lived in Arkansas my entire life until three years ago when I accepted a position in Galveston. Not knowing anyone when I moved was a challenge, but working in admissions, you make friends quickly with colleagues from other institutions. It was definitely one of the best decisions I have made. Currently, I supervise all aspects of new student orientation at the San Jacinto College North Campus. I train our Student Ambassadors and coordinate with recruiting and other departments on giving campus tours.

This week on the TACAC Blog, we want to tell you about an event you first learned about in our post from September 8: Drive-In Workshops! Today, TACAC was at Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth for the Fort Worth-area Drive-In Workshop.

With over 40 counselors registered to attend, this was a popular program. Public and private school counselors came from throughout the DFW Metroplex to learn from admission and college counseling colleagues about timely topics. A cold start to the morning didn't keep people away and the counselors arrived ready to learn and interact. Attendees were treated to a catered lunch, courtesy of Texas Wesleyan University. 

As you work through your holiday shopping list, consider adding TACAC or NACAC to your holiday gift-giving. As professional organizations, TACAC and NACAC support the learning and development of your colleagues at high schools, colleges, CBOs, and educational organizations that support students in pursuit of post-secondary education. We hope you'll consider donating to the Anne Naman TACAC Fund, the NACAC Imagine Fund, or to TACAC through Amazon Smile.

Anne Naman TACAC Fund - Donate HERE

Name:  Matt Cunningham
Position/Title:  Senior Assistant Director of Admissions
Current institution:  Lehigh University
How long have you been in the profession?:  4.5 years

Give us some background! Where are you from, where did you grow up, a little info on what you do in your position at Lehigh?
I am originally from Lewisburg, Pennsylvania - born, raised, whole life there.  I graduated in 2011 from Bucknell University with my bachelors in European History.  In 2012, I started at Lehigh (a rival of my alma mater so that's always fun during basketball season...) and have been there since.  Currently, I am the counselor for Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Virginia and I coordinate one of our honors programs, direct the Lehigh tour guide program, organize our admitted student events, and do a lot with our daily visit offerings.

As an organization committed to developing college admission counseling professionals, TACAC is happy to share some recent news articles that may help you grow as a professional. Check them out and let us know what else you want to learn about - TACAC is here to serve its members!

Texas News

Community College Hope for $87 Mil. Bump in Appropriations (Corpus Christi Caller-Times)
As the Texas legislature prepares for its upcoming session, which starts in January, the Texas Association of Community Colleges and the Community College Association of Texas Trustees are seeking additional funding to support their educational initiatives.