March Message from the President

CAS President, Ralph Johnson, Ph.D., provides a statement on Women's History Month and looks forward to upcoming conferences.

Dear Colleagues:
 
Greetings to you as we celebrate Women's History Month across the country and highlight the myriad significant contributions of women to all aspects of life across the globe.  Over the last few months I have been announcing the revolutionary changes to the 11th version of the CAS Professional Standards for Higher Education and the new format through which it will be experienced! I am equally excited to announce that we are days from its release.  It has been our goal to have the new version ready for you as we prepare for ACPA, NASPA and other major student affairs related conferences this spring. CAS has met that objective!
 
Over the last two months, the CAS Council, Governing Board, and editorial team have been meeting and working with great resolution to hone and finish the various components of this resource. The General Standards went through a significant revision process and have been embedded into all of the preexisting and new functional area standards, which now total 50 sets! This is a notable milestone for CAS.  Several functional areas – e-Sports Programs, Campus Credential Programs and Services, and Indigenous Student Affairs – are included for the first time. All of the contextual statements have been reviewed to reflect the changes and contemporary trends in each functional area. Finally, moving to a totally electronic format responds to ample feedback from CAS users and introduces many aesthetic and interactive enhancements.
 
As many of you are planning to attend ACPA and NASPA, please set aside some time to visit our exhibit booth and talk with us about the 11th version as well as other CAS products.  We will be delighted to talk with you, assist you in placing orders and gift you with some cool CAS swag!  We know that the profession will be abuzz as colleagues across the breadth of higher education acquire and utilize these carefully crafted CAS resources.  I hope you will be among the first to do so.  On behalf of the sixty-plus Council representatives of the member associations, I am excited to say that we have produced a high-quality product and I cannot wait to see it used in our daily work as student affairs practitioners, higher education officials and most importantly assessments professionals.
 
It is my hope that this 11th version of CAS Professional Standards for Higher Education continues to serve the profession well over the next several years and serves as a solid foundation on which we stand. To that end, let us advance the standards of good practice and continue our commitment to helping our students with their overall learning, development and success.
 
Sincerely,
 
Ralph Johnson, Ph.D.
President
Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education