Well, it has been a wild couple of years in the world of the Admission Practices committee. For the last three years, I have had the exciting dual-role of chairing WACAC’s AP Committee while also sitting on the AP Committee at the national level. When the DOJ lawsuit hit NACAC a few years ago, one silver lining of that mess was that it gave us an opportunity to redefine and redesign the ways in which we agree to a shared set of norms. With the removal of mandatory practices, and the change of Admission Practices from a role of monitoring and compliance to one of education and advocacy, NACAC’s AP Committee worked hard to create the new Guide to Ethical Practice in College Admissions (the “Guide”). The purpose of the Guide is to help members from every corner of our industry stay centered in an ethical code that is student centered, with extra special attention paid to students and counselors from underrepresented and/or under-resourced backgrounds.
At the 2021 NACAC conference in Seattle, it was announced that the membership voted to change the AP Committee at the national level from a seven-person standing committee to a larger body in order to bring more voices to the table. So, like our Guide, we have entered a new era of the AP Committee at the national level.
The AP Committee of WACAC has long been a one or two person committee, but now that we have moved from monitoring and compliance to education and advocacy, WACAC’s AP Committee needs to grow. We are looking for volunteers who are interested in familiarizing themselves with the Guide and are willing to brainstorm ways to spread the news through staff-trainings and/or conference sessions. The hope is that we’ll build a committee representing the diversity of our membership, both in terms of the individuals “at the table” as well as a wide array of professional backgrounds and experiences. Committee members will help shape the future of the Admission Practices committee, and members will be encouraged to take part in presentations that feature the use of the Guide. This group will also keep our “ears to the ground” for current trends and shifts in the profession in order to feed that information back up to NACAC’s AP Committee for consideration of any follow-up or Guide revisions. If you are interested in learning more about the committee, please contact Matt Lane at wacacap@wacac.org.