Since 1997, the National Association of Branch Campus Administrators (NABCA) Annual Conference has been held in April. I’ve known about it and went to it as a Member since 2008 and I’ve planned for and coordinated it as Staff since 2012. So why do I look forward to and long for the month of May... every year?!?

NABCA is one of our Best Gurl, inc clients, I serve as Executive Director, and we provide support services for the Association Members. NABCA helps administrators, staff and faculty in higher education advocate for and accelerate the growth of their locations. The Association provides this through published research, professional development, a peer reviewed journal, and committee participation opportunities for the unique needs of higher ed professionals at off-site locations, and of course, the Annual Conference!

Most people only about the traditional college or university campus, or what is known as the “parent campus.” It typically has 18-19-year-old freshmen, graduate programs, and multiple colleges of academic study. It’s where most people go for higher education. Then, you have “off-site” locations; it may be called a “branch campus,” a “center,” a “satellite,” or a “regional campus, center or satellite.” No two are exactly the same or have the same name. Some higher ed institutions only have one... others have multiple, sometimes in other states or countries. There are some things they have in common; however.

They are established and located where there is a community need for higher education by people who cannot go to or live on the parent campus as 18-year old freshmen. Most likely, students are 24-older, work full-time, have families, are retired or are still in the military, and/or are reentering the workforce after an extended absence, and they most often pay their own way.

Some locations offer one or two academic programs only; others may offer more than that... very few offer all academic programs that the parent campus offers.

The administrator does... everything! If students want to start an organization, they call the Administrator’s office. If the community wants to establish a new program or scholarship, they call the Administrator’s office. If the toilets are backed up... right, the Administrator’s office (laughing). He or she handles everything that individual Vice Presidents, Deans, Department Chairs, Recruiters, etc. handle at the parent campus.

It’s a different life with different needs. Are you starting to get a picture?

NABCA is the only professional association with an Annual Conference that meets the unique needs of all personnel at off-site locations. It’s the biggest event they hold all year. And that brings me back to the Annual Conference... and my love of May!

Throughout the process; before, during and after the Conference, we’re asking and waiting for decisions from the Executive Committee. Decisions about the Annual Conference, an upcoming Webinar, the new Member recognition, or the next issue of the Access Journal. Lots of times, there are differing opinions... which makes our jobs LOTS of fun (laughing)!

As of now, Emily (Hedrick, the Best Gurl, inc “Communicator") and I have a Conference Action Item List with 120+ items on it that we work on! Everything from planning and conducting the September Site Visit to select the hotel and Conference Dinner location for the Conference that is 2-years out, to arranging hotel rooms and airport transportation for the Executive Committee Members at the upcoming Conference! It wouldn’t be so bad if the Annual Conference was the only thing we did for NABCA.

The “Great Questions Forum” discussion board/list serve goes down. The Access Journal editors want a special email blast to go out. Searching for a place once we get to the Conference site to find fresh flowers and candy for the Expo tables. Working with the company that’s building our new Member Management System and Website. The Research Committee wants to do a survey... and so does the Membership Committee. Setting up for the next Executive Committee Meeting. Making last minute arrangements for the new participants in the Branch Campus Leadership Institute (BCLI) Orientation and for the current BCLI participant presentation and graduation. A potential new member calls to say she can’t pay by credit card online and wants to mail a check, would I give her the mailing address? It’s right there on the website... beside the phone number (laughing). An applicant for the Innovation Award wants more information about the program.

From the beginning of June until the end of April. Every year... that’s why I love May. The newly elected Executive Committee doesn’t come on board until July. The Site selection geniuses we work with, EMC Meetings & Events (Sherry and Jody) are doing their magic and sending out RFPs for the 2-year away Conference. We don’t have to do anything for next year’s Conference because the website is updated and the call for proposals, partnerships application, and registration are updated. The June-April buildup and execution are over. We don’t have to start planning Orientation for the new Executive Committee until next month... and, in May, we can just... breathe.

Of course, it would be far simpler and less frantic if NABCA was the only client we had. In the midst of everything we do for NABCA, we’re also running all over the country to speak, do organizational assessments, facilitate strategic planning, formulate communication plans, and provide executive coaching for our other academic, corporate and non-profit clients; and of course, we’re writing our next books, plays and films! Have computer and smartphone will travel!

So, I’m happy to see May finally arrive! I have time to sit in the backyard and watch the sun rise. Go out to dinner with a friend and not glance at my watch every few minutes to make sure I can get home to bed and get up before the birds in the morning to start work. Watch something on TV with Thom... or me watch TV and the TV watch Thom (laughing)! Talk on the phone with my best friends. Knit. Read. And most of all, I love May because I can finally... SLEEP!! At least, until June, when we start gearing up again to take care of one of our favorite clients, the National Association of Branch Campus Administrators!

They came from near and far, a migration of young male leadership from Cornell, Purdue, Kentucky, Georgetown, Arkansas, SMU, two HBCUs, (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) and many others. In all sixty-nine African American males came to Campaign, Illinois for a weeklong Leadership Conference, with the goal of nurturing their own leadership skills and “to save the world.”

I was honored to be among them.

It was a Leadership Summit for African American college males, the vision of my good friend Dr. Ainsley Carry, Vice Provost for Student Affairs at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Dr. Carry’s vision was to gather African American males in a weeklong session to discuss leadership, visions, personal goals and aspirations. My alma mater sent three young men. I was asked to facilitate one of the sessions.

It was historic, enlightening and exciting!

The organization, Leadershape, conducts these workshops around the country, generally with student leaders from the same college or university.

This would be different.

I arrived at the rural airport in Campaign, Illinois. My well-meaning escort to the hotel gushed about how polite and positive the young men were. While making chitchat, she revealed it was a genuine but pleasant surprise to her. I wondered, what she had expected? After all, their colleges, and universities had selected these young men. I realized that she expected what she had been exposed to, the media stereotype. I started to say these young men were the “normal” ones. But I didn’t. She meant well. Young men like these as a rule don’t exist in her world, not in numbers. They do in mine. These young men were the African American males I’d known most of my life, responsible, diligent, accountable, wanting to make a difference. They had been selected by their universities and colleges, communities and families to represent them. I chuckled, “Sixty-nine, African American young men in rural Illinois, for a week, and they didn’t even make the news cycle.”

Now that is a story.

As a cluster facilitator, I had a group of about twenty young men for an hour-long discussion on any subject the young men wanted to talk about. After some preliminary discussion about my background, acting, writing, consulting and my current role as Chair of the Auburn Foundation Board, we dug into a full-throated discussion on business and social issues. They were bright, giving, respectful of other views, and different depending on their own     individual background and goals.

They summarized that there were two aspects of the session they could never duplicate in their everyday lives. One was to share time with so many other accomplished males like themselves, hear their dreams and aspirations, share time, laugh and hope for a better world. The other was participating in a forum where they could be heard. Where they could say things they wanted to say and not fear reprisal, where they could say things to me that did not shock me but instead they found an understanding ear; an ear of experience, an ear that had lived their experience. That was a highlight for me.

One young man asked me. “Where do you see your life now?”

“Great question,” I shot back, “but an easy one, I’ve paved the road for you guys. Soon I will move over, hand off the baton and watch you guys run with it into your future.”

Several young men wrote me personal letters of thanks. They gave them to me before I left.

…I hope you enjoyed your time experiencing and exploring these enlightened young men at Leadershape.

…It has been so empowering.

…Thank you for coming to Leadershape and offering your knowledge and wisdom. Your contribution elevated my experience to an entirely new level.

When we again gathered as a full group I shared with them an experience from a previous Leadershape session for student leaders on the Auburn University campus. It was, and remains, a memorable experience. Dr. Carry challenged that group to envision that one day a President of the United States would emerge from among them. One young man has taken that challenge to heart.

I laid that challenge on the African American males. Someone in their group would aspire to one-day hold the highest office in the land. Eyes lit up. I watched the idea settle into their young brains. I saw the thought pass through the mental barriers society had placed there and come to rest within their heads, I can do that, I, can be President of the United States.

It was quite an experience.