IAS – What’s that?

By Traci Flowers
Loyola Academy

The Human Relations Committee has been renamed the Inclusion, Access, and Success Committee to align with NACAC, and  better reflect the work of the committee. For many years, Human Relations was often confused with Human Resources. Although the name of the committee has changed, its mission remains the same – to advance the association’s commitment to inclusion for underserved students and the educational professionals who guide them. In the upcoming year, the Inclusion, Access and Success committee will work on and focus their attention on the following:

• Reach out to other IACAC Committees, ISCA, ILASFAA, and IL Dream Fund, seeking opportunities to collaborate.
• Increase outreach efforts to students and counselors in rural areas, and connect more members based on their interest in these issues using various forms of technology.  
• Having recently developed a critical resource for secondary school and college admission counselors to aid undocumented students in their pursuit of postsecondary education, IAS would like IACAC college and university members to encourage their institutions to complete a profile for inclusion in this important document.
• IAS also hopes to develop resources for secondary school and college admission counselors to aid LGBTQ youth as well as students experiencing homelessness.
• IAS will continue to promote and publicize Step by Step guides, designed to support college access professionals serving in secondary schools and community based organizations who work with first generation and underserved student populations in their pursuit of college access and success.
• Finally, IAS  will be on the lookout for exciting sessions at the IACAC annual conference that focus on INCLUSION, ACCESS and SUCCESS!

Going forward, IAS hopes to facilitate more conversations around pressing issues pertaining to inclusion, access, and success within the higher education profession. It is the hope of the IAS committee that the information shared with members will be utilized and provide beneficial in working with students and used as a resource going forward. Please contact the IAS committee with any comments, concerns, questions, or suggestions that you have.