Association News

Under the leadership of new Executive Director John Bernhards and President John Vinson, Ph.D., the IACLEA Board of Directors met October 2-4, 2019, in Denver, Colorado, to focus on IACLEA’s next wave of opportunities and future direction.

ED Bernhards offered insights from his observation of opportunities for each of IACLEA’s core program areas based on what he’s experienced since he joined the IACLEA team in August. Key themes of his observations and opportunities focused on:

• Excellence: Position IACLEA as member-driven, responsive, and future-focused
• Innovation: Embrace the use of leading technologies to advance the IACLEA mission
• Growth: Foster collaboration, execute on thoughtfully prepared strategies, and measure our performance.

To continuously improve the Association and advance the profession, IACLEA will launch a comprehensive membership needs assessment survey in November.

The member survey findings will serve as the foundation for the Association’s three-year strategic plan, to be finalized in May and presented to the membership at the 2020 Annual Conference, held June 22–25 in New Orleans.  A Strategic Planning Task Force is now being formed to develop the strategic plan in coordination with the IACLEA Board of Directors.   

Listening Sessions

Virtual listening sessions led by President Vinson were held in September to introduce new ED John Bernhards and to provide a forum for members to identify their experiences as an IACLEA member.  Multiple members who participated noted the value IACLEA delivers in connecting people.  “The value is found in the resources and conversation,” said one participant.  It was evident that members value making connections and forming relationships with other professionals around the globe.  They believe that IACLEA does a good job connecting people who all face the same challenges.

Program Highlights

Accreditation: IACLEA’s future opportunities span into its Accreditation program, an important vehicle that demonstrates not only the hallmark for excellence but also a tool for assessing and managing institutional risk in the context of campus safety.  IACLEA anticipates opportunities to partner with other law enforcement and higher education organizations to expand its outreach and increase the number of IACLEA Accredited institutions.

Communications: In just the month of September, IACLEA experienced a 25-percent increase in the number of followers on LinkedIn.  Our content and information are growing in popularity, and we expect to increase readership in IACLEA’s various publications both in print and online, to ensure our members are further informed, inspired, and engaged.   Other efforts are now underway within the IACLEA staff to increase IACLEA’s media presence in related trade publications and higher education news outlets.

A critical and future core value of membership, beyond training, will be to publish campus public safety and law enforcement best practices, whitepapers, research, and scholarly findings submitted by members. We will seek to produce monographs on emerging campus public safety issues. We expect to further enhance IACLEA’s visibility and stature as “the Thought Leader” for campus public safety.  You can expect more announcements on movement in these areas in coming months.

Corporate Partnerships & Sponsorships: We expect to expand the number of our corporate partners and sponsors, especially with the introduction of IACLEA’s online learning portal in coming months.  We look forward to the support and expertise of supporting business members to advance our mission and objectives. 

Governance:  President Vinson and the Board moved forward with the formation of a Bylaws Task Force that will review and make recommendations to improve and update the

Association governance bylaws.  The review is necessary to ensure the bylaws reflect the current needs of the organization, now that IACLEA is no longer managed under a contract firm and operates independently with its own staff presence and headquarters. The board will review the task force’s recommendations before changes to the bylaws are submitted to the IACLEA membership for its consideration and approval. 

Within the last three years, IACLEA’s Board of Directors has led the successful investment of funds and resources necessary to launch the Association into an independently operating and vibrant member organization.  Those efforts included establishing IACLEA’s own professional staff and team in its Washington, DC-area headquarters, located in Silver Spring, Maryland. 

IACLEA’s Board approved an updated FY2020 budget. The priority for the next fiscal year is to expand and diversify IACLEA’s revenue sources, including securing additional support from corporate sponsors and partners. These revenue enhancements will allow exciting program and service enhancements.

The Board voted to update the Financial Policy to change the required reserves from nine months operating expenses to six months. This will allow IACLEA to continue to use reserves, if necessary, to grow revenue and increase member benefits.

Our next phase of growth will build on that success and expand our portfolio of services in both training and research, as we further enhance our value to and our support for IACLEA members worldwide.

Government Affairs:  The Government Affairs Committee is tracking several bills introduced in Congress, to include H.R. 3267, the End All Hazing Act; H.R. 662 Report and Educate About Campus Hazing Act, and H.R. 761 Campus Hate Crimes Act.  Updates and possible actions will be provided on proposed legislation by IACLEA in the near future.  IACLEA was represented by staff at the recent DEA National Red Ribbon Rally in Arlington, Virginia, and we were recently present for the US Dept. of Justice seminar on cell phone encryption laws directly addressing child exploitation and sex trafficking.

Management Services: IACLEA seeks to diversify and grow the number of management services assessors, evaluators, and subject matter experts. IACLEA’s visibility and recognition as a qualified provider of third-party management evaluation services remain strong, and it is expected that this member service area will remain steady as part of IACLEA’s growing and increasingly diversified portfolio of member programs. 

Training: IACLEA’s training strategy will now evolve to a professional development continuum model, where IACLEA ensures that it is serving campus safety and law enforcement professionals at each and every stage of their career.   IACLEA’s Education and Learning Committee will develop strategies to expand the availability of the highly successful First-Line Supervisor Institute, as well as broaden the content and availability of the Executive Development Institute program.

IACLEA’s future in training delivery will soon embrace online learning. An online learning portal will be developed in Winter 2019, with plans to offer training as early as February 2020.  To support this exciting new initiative, the board approved the merger of the Distance Learning Committee under the Education and Learning Committee, to ensure that work and review of both content development and delivery systems are integrated and synchronized.  Discussions are now underway with related membership organizations, as well as current and prospective corporate partners, who have expressed interest in funding and supporting online content development and distribution.

IACLEA 2020 Annual Conference & Exposition, New Orleans

Following the enormous success of our 2019 conference in Vancouver, the IACLEA 2020 Annual Conference promises to be our most well attended and exciting conference ever.  Please make plans to join us in New Orleans on June 22–25.  Announcements will be appearing shortly on the IACLEA website and in our member communications regarding speakers and the dynamic program.

The Future Leaders in Public Safety Committee is developing a year-round mentorship program, designed to support professional development and foster networking among IACLEA members. More details will be shared at the IACLEA Annual Conference in New Orleans.

Registration opens in December. We hope to see you there!