October 2021 WACUBO News

President’s Message: Ruth’s Ruminations

Closing Out My WACUBO Presidential Term

When I took over as WACUBO president in early May 2020 I would not have thought the world would still be dealing with the pandemic 18 months later. It’s been my honor to be president during this time, albeit quite different than expected.

WACUBO, as an organization, has fared very well. We pivoted quickly from offering in-person professional development to offering remote options, including 11 Happy Hours, two Business Management Institutes, the Business Partner Web Series, the Leadership Series, the Mentoring Program, our focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion; and our most incredible annual meeting yet with more than 3,500 signed up from over 100 institutions. You’ve told us you want to continue with online learning opportunities, though eager to return in person when the time is right.

Brad Baca from Western Colorado University is our incoming President, assuming the role on Tuesday, October 5th at the conclusion of the in-person Board meeting in Seattle. Brad and I, along with our Association Management Company, SBI, meet regularly to plan and assess what needs to be done on our member’s behalf. We are pleased with the level of continuing members – we’ve stayed steady throughout.

We are resilient people and institutions! We’ve proven we can manage our institutions with varying degrees of covid positivity and learned how to live and work in new ways. It is an exciting time, and one that higher education is learning from—we are actively proving we are learning organizations; something many people thought was much needed.

I thank all of you for engaging with WACUBO and sharing your ideas, stories, and challenges. More to come as Brad takes on the presidency; I know he’ll do a fabulous job.

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