Each year, members of SAC organize a student leadership retreat in the spring that includes: open meetings with members of the Board of Higher Education and its staff, guest speakers, and workshops that promote student leadership.
Carlos E. Santiago, Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Higher Education
The SAC was joined by Commissioner Santiago. He talked to the SAC about the growing enrollment gap in public higher education and funding. He also lead students through a discussion to help set an FY19 goal.
Commissioner's Complete Presentation on Students First! >
Student Trustee Training
Matt Noyes, Director of Trustee and Government Relations, MA Department of Higher Education
Dena Papanikolaou, General Counsel, MA Department of Higher Education
The student trustee discussion focused on best practices to include the most important issues facing students on campus in board meeting agendas and how to disseminate information from board meetings to the student body. The experiences of the student trustees on both fronts varied widely from campus to campus. Moving forward, the students will utilize the SAC Facebook group to continue the discussion online and to share methods that they have found to be effective.
Complete Presentation >
Student Trustee Discussion Questions >
Student Government/Senate Training
Ignacio Chaparro, Project Specialist, MA Department of Higher Education, UMass Boston Alum
In this session, Student Government leaders participated in a round-table discussion of ethical leadership, representation and advocacy, community building, and fostering growth and continuity. At the end of the discussion, student leaders were broken into four small groups to discuss and answer the following four questions:
Advocacy & Engaging Students
Dave Koffman, Director of Communications & Policy, MA Community College Executive Offices
Jake Oliveira, Assistant Executive Officer, State University System Council of Presidents
Dave and Jake provided an overview of public higher education in Massachusetts, including the need for further investment in our public colleges and universities. Students leaders were asked to familiarize themselves Massachusetts's need for a highly educated workforce and the important role that public higher education plays to create that workforce. Due to the lack of investment, campuses have been forced to raise the cost of a post-secondary education leading to further student debt.
Complete Presentation on Advocacy and Engaging Students >
To register for the 2019 Student Leadership Retreat, contact Stacy Bougie at sbougie@bhe.mass.edu
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