President's Message

Robert Holden Pacific Region President  University of California—San Diego

The 2012-13 school year is upon us. Students are back and most of us are running at full capacity. It was a great year last year—a year that saw a few changes in our region. The conference in San Diego was a great success thanks to Paul Melchior and his team, and now we are looking ahead to Reno. Russ Meyer is chairing this year’s conference in Reno, with a twist –our friends from the Continental Region will be joining us. A few years back we joined the Continental Region in Fort Collins and that worked out well, so now we are doing the same thing for them.

I mentioned changes and there have been a few. Some of our longtime members retired, including Sharon Coulson, who retired and moved to San Diego from Davis. We added to the regional council, expanding our ability to connect with the region by bringing the committee chairs to the table. The goal is to provide better connectivity and continuity, helping the chairs by including them in developing the direction for the year. So far we have had one face-to-face since the national conference and monthly conference calls to work on goals.

Planning is underway for the 2014 regional conference hosted by USC. Kris Klinger and his team are working on that conference and are planning on having portions on the USC campus.

We are planning on ways we can provide additional training opportunities throughout the region, but can always use your feedback on opportunities that are out there. If you are interested in putting a program together, contact one of the committee chairs or council members and we can assist you in that process.

One last change that I hadn’t mentioned is that after the Boston conference I made a few changes. I spent my life in Alaska and didn’t really see myself anywhere else, but things change. Shortly after the conference in Boston, UC San Diego made me an offer that had my wife and I reconsider where we were living. I am now a part of the UC San Diego team and enjoying all the new opportunities that brings. Transition takes time, so for a time I was disconnected, but am settling in and working to get caught up on those connections.

My new email is .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and I look forward to working this upcoming year for the Pacific Region.

I look forward to a great year!

Robert Holden
NACUFS Pacific Region President