A Call for ACCIS to Get Involved – NACAC 2009 and Beyond

 

As ACCIS enters its second year as a national organization of college counselors in independent schools, we seek to continue serving the needs of our members and our students. This effort takes many forms, but two include the 2009 Summer Institute and the 2009 NACAC National Conference.

 

This year’s Summer Institute will run from June 14-17 at Colorado College. Darnell Heywood of the Columbus Academy is the Director of the Institute and welcomes the help of any members who wish to get involved. We hope to have 100 counselors from independent schools gather in Colorado this coming summer.

 

Next year’s NACAC National Conference will run from September 24-26 in Baltimore. ACCIS is just one part of the organization that brings together everyone in the world of college admissions, but we want very much to raise the voice of independent schools in the national dialogue and to ensure that the NACAC conference includes sessions that address the issues that face our students and our schools. To that end, we need ACCIS members to speak up and to step up!

 

NACAC already has issued its call for session proposals. The deadline for submissions is December 12, and full details are available at the NACAC site: http://www.nacacnet.org/MemberPortal/Events/NatlConf09/CFP/CFP_08callforproposals.htm

 

I am pleased to announce that Andrea Brownstein of MICDS in St. Louis and Stuart Oremus of The Wellington School in Ohio have agreed to serve as the coordinators for ACCIS presentations at NACAC and at other national and regional conferences. Stuart will maintain a calendar (soon to be available on the ACCIS website) of upcoming conferences and the deadline dates for the submission of proposals. Andrea will serve as the initial clearinghouse for ideas you might have for sessions and presentations.

 

What role can ACCIS play in assorted professional gatherings? We can:

 

·         Receive suggestions about topics you would like to hear presented at conferences

 

·         Solicit your ideas about topics you would like to present

 

·         Maintain a roster of eager presenters and promising topics

 

·         Connect willing presenters with one another and help with the submission of proposals

 

·         Help to publicize upcoming sessions of interest to ACCIS members

 

The broad guideline for sessions that receive the support of ACCIS is that they promote our mission as an organization: “ACCIS supports the essential work of college counselors in independent schools by affirming our unique leadership role in educational communities where we serve the young people in our care.”

 

We hope that you will answer this call!

 

Burke R. Rogers

Director of the Program Committee for ACCIS

Director of College Counseling, St. George’s School

 

Andrea Brownstein

Coordinator of Presentations for ACCIS

College Counselor, MICDS

 

Darnell Heywood

Director of the 2009 ACCIS Summer Institute

Director of College Counseling, Columbus Academy

Darnell_heywood@columbusacademy.org