I’m currently in San Francisco attending the 2013 Higher Education Government Relations Conference, hosted by AASCU, APLU, CASE and AACC. We all need to expand our personal knowledge, and this was my first choice this year for some much appreciated professional development! The subject matter was particularly of interest to me because increasingly our work with institutions involves aspects of government relations. It’s been great to gain a better understanding about the issues facing those in the field.
So far, the speaker lineup has been fantastic, with opportunities to hear from the likes of Gavin Newsom, Lieutenant Governor of California; Elizabeth Gutierrez, Director of State Policy at the Lumina Foundation; Muriel Howard, President of AASCU; and many more. Sessions later today and tomorrow will feature more great speakers, and I’m particularly excited to hear from Janet Napolitano, President of University of California, tomorrow.
If you haven’t been following the conversation on Twitter (#HEGRC13), I’ve included below just a few of my favorite tweets so far.
"We are educating people for unemployability. We need degrees that are connected to the future." – @GavinNewsom #hegrc13 #highered
— Kyle Gunnels (@kgunnels) December 12, 2013
#hegrc13 session: most of the country will be seeing a decline in # high school graduates (demographic decline), Northeast will be hit hard
— Mica Stark (@micastark) December 12, 2013
https://twitter.com/TeriLynHinds/status/411194209643683841
GR not all abt relationships with lawmakers. Also need to work well internally with colleagues at your institution. #hegrc13
— Brian Flahaven (@FlahavenCASE) December 12, 2013
Why are we slipping? "Over the past 2 decades where the US has divested (education), our competitors have invested. – @GavinNewsom #hegrc13
— Kyle Gunnels (@kgunnels) December 12, 2013