Who are these people??

Greetings from SSATB in Phoenix. For those of you not here, apologies this post may be conference-centric. I’ve been trying to wrap my head around the fact that the most popular workshop I’ve attended in the last two days was called “Keep the Job. Lose the Stress”. The room was literally standing-room only. People were seated on the floor in the aisles and piled up at the door, peeking and listening in. Now, I was in this session because I have to renew my Canadian work papers this school year and I thought it a good idea to have a back-up plan in case the Canadian government decided it would have no more of me.

What was fascinating was the number of very seasoned and very respected colleagues who were in this session. One was a past winner of an SSATB award and another I know has been at his school over 20 years and enjoys full enrollment! And then there’s the sheer volume of people in attendance, ranging from rookies to seasoned professionals. What are we to make of this?

Heather Hoerle has gone on this international listening tour through the US and Canada as she has ascended to her post. A great idea I think and my understanding is the tour has made 14 stops so far. In the opening session, she shared with us what she has learned and heard from her far-flung tour of member schools. The very first thing she mentioned was a call from the membership to invest in the test and be sure it is the best it can be.

Who are these people??

I’m not doubting what she’s heard but I’m wondering from whom. The colleagues I talk to are worried about the recession, meeting unrealistic enrollment goals, fighting back the flood of Chinese interest, and figuring out how to maximize financial aid. They are jockeying for respect and resources from their head and board, and trying to be heard by their administrative colleagues. And based on my experience today, they are a bit nervous about their job security, despite their accomplishments. Not a one of them is questioning the validity of the SSAT test. But that’s just my personal network.

SSATB: is it a testing organization with admissions professionals or an admissions organization with a test? I think there is a challenge going forward to finally wrestle this question to the ground. Can it be both? Maybe. But it better know which is the dominant personality and, for now, it seems to me that we have never craved more than we do at this moment a national voice of advocacy and expertise.