NASASPS Quarterly, Volume 10
February 2019
Greetings NASASPS Members,
As I start my 15th (!) year at the SC Commission on Higher Education and with NASASPS, I can’t help but think how significantly our work in postsecondary school regulation has changed. It is my opinion that the NASASPS regulator members are more dependent on one another than ever before, as we navigate not only massive school closures but new proposals and institutional relationships that continue to surprise us with their innovation and creativity (sometime positively, sometimes… not). A recently published article in Education Dive addressing the closure of ECA institutions featured several NASASPS regular members, highlighting how our open lines of communication with one another helped us to respond quickly to the situation, with the bottom of line of doing the best we could to assist affected students. So while these remarks might focus on the regular members of NASASPS, it is my hope that the strength of this sector of members will better support the work we do with our partner members and improve our oversight of and communication with relevant associate members.
The Annual Conference is just a month and a half away and the conference planning committee has done an excellent job tracking out sessions of interest for attendees. We look forward to welcoming you to Jacksonville, starting with a beautiful view of the river during the opening reception (no April showers, please). If you haven’t registered yet, don’t miss out! We’ll be recognizing several honorary members at the Monday luncheon, where you might see some familiar faces. Lastly, we will also be considering nominees for two board positions (more information provided here), as the terms for Sylvia Rosa-Casanova (VA) and Julie Woodruff (TN) come to an end. Both have provided immeasurable service to the board and we are thankful for them!
The Board of Directors held its annual retreat in January where we reviewed our progress on the strategic plan. We are pleased to be reinstituting quarterly calls between the U.S. Department of Education and state regulators; firming up processes for managing committees and their charges; and drafting processes to better respond to policy proposals.
I look forward to seeing many of you in Jacksonville. If you have any questions regarding NASASPS membership, the conference, please don’t hesitate to reach out to one of the members of the board or staff.
Sincerely,
Lane Goodwin
NASASPS President