Vanessa Merine

Director, Enrollment Operations at Florida International University

Nominations and Elections Committee Position Statement

I am thrilled to have the opportunity to serve on AACRAO’s Nominations and Elections Committee. I have over 15 years of experience in the field of higher education in the areas of admissions, academic advising, transfer credit evaluation and now enrollment management. Diversity and access have been at the core of my work and passion for higher education, as such, I believe that the ‘Nominations and Elections Committee’ will allow me to continue to engage with these ideals. I am particularly motivated by the promotion/advocacy done by the committee to encourage the AACRAO membership to become more engaged with the organization. That is one area that I believe I will contribute to the most if I am selected to serve on the Committee.

During the past 10+ years, most of my work has been aimed as supporting student needs at all levels through various services, processes and technology. My ultimate goal has always been to ensure that we do not marginalize those who lack the access to information and resources needed to be successful. That is always at the core of my questions whether I am proposing a new readmissions application process or considering a change in a transfer credit policy. Is this process transparent? How can we mitigate our own process deficiencies? Finding a healthy balance of critical self-evaluation all while constantly reinventing yourself is what I am tasked with on a daily basis. Serving on this committee will allow me combine my passion for advocacy as well as my interest in building effective, transparent processes.

As a member of the Nominations and Elections Committee, I hope to bring my values and skills to the table to identify representation and process gaps in our current model and collaborate with my peers to deliver on our established goals regarding diversity and access.  I would also look for opportunities to engage the membership in discussions regarding AACRAO’s election process and find meaningful ways to connect them to the Organization through this process. This is the type of work that I truly enjoy and I hope to have the opportunity to put it to use for AACRAO. Constantly, looking inward while looking forward to what must and can be achieved.

I am truly honored to have been nominated by a peer and even more so to have the opportunity to serve AACRAO in this capacity.

Sincerely looking forward to working with and for AACRAO!

Vanessa Merine