On a chilly and rainy afternoon, I had just returned from visiting the stunning Übersee-Museum in Bremen, Germany. Culture, family, and spring break defined this pre-COVID pastime, and I couldn’t be any happier. Until… My phone rang, and the Caller ID displayed, “Office.” Why would my colleagues from Houston call me bright and early their local time, especially when they knew I was roaming at $2/minute? Needless to say, that one phone call cost me almost $50, and follow-ups and interviews with the news cost another $150. Varsity Blues had just shaken our world on March 12, 2019.
Our individual practices, commitments to our families, engagement with our colleagues, and our future were all under scrutiny in the matter of an hour of police arrests and breaking news. After my initial phone calls that day trying to grasp the extent of what transpired, I locked myself in the room, sat down, leaned back, and closed my eyes, reflecting. Then came IECA’s “For Immediate Release” message in response to the events of the day. Right then and there, I was snapped back into reality, regained consciousness from the initial shock, and got to work: immediate press releases, social media posts, updates on our website, and news reporter interviews all reiterating IECA’s message about our ethical practices and guidelines, and how and why we are different from those caught up in the Varsity Blues scandal.
The events of that day and those that followed have forever changed our industry, without a doubt. Nevertheless, also without a doubt, IECA has always been there—from the first minute on. Not only was the IECA office the first to be contacted by news outlets, but we actively engaged the media and general public in order to put a perspective on the recent events. Whether you used IECA’s exact press release to deliver your message to the public about your practice, or you gathered your notes from prior conferences about how to speak to the media, you had the resources you needed. IECA had your back.
Following the Varsity Blues scandal, the “aftershocks” have persisted. Individual states’ representatives wasted no time in proposing legislation that would significantly regulate or eliminate IEC operations, and celebrity publications claimed unethical practices by their IECs. Clearly, IECA’s work was not done—it was just beginning. We had to go beyond the immediate response and distinguishing of the fire. We couldn’t just sit and wait for the next breaking news to shake our world. We needed to be proactive, strategic, and comprehensive. This led the formation of IECA’s first-ever Government Relations Committee, chaired by Dr. Steven Mercer and comprised of committed IECA members who possessed the skills, network, and experience in this arena. In collaboration with our lobbying firm, this committee has been charged with the critical task of working with local, state, or federal representatives in order to educate them, create awareness of our practices and ethical guidelines, and advocate for us. Over the last two years, the work has been no less than time-consuming and challenging, but fruitful as phenomenal progress has been made. The committee has:
- Advocated for IECs in Illinois, including filing a FOIA request, and met with state legislators.
- Offered testimony on pending legislation in Oregon on therapeutic advising.
- Advised members on new legislation and appropriate actions to take.
- Shared a briefing for members on FAFSA changes.
- Received a request from the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Welfare and Pensions to testify this fall.
- Secured the active participation and collaboration of EducationUSA and the British Council at an IECA outreach event in Turkey in October.
- Created a committee to lead our first-ever Advocacy Day in spring 2023 in Washington, DC.
When IECA’s ad-hoc Strategic Planning Committee started engaging in discussions about the direction of IECA, the progress made (and to come) by the Government Relations Committee became the central piece of the next steps. What else can we do? How do we continue to protect IECA members from the next breaking news? How do we elevate the status of IECs, IECA, and the profession so that we become the source of expertise? The answers to these questions will become the specific initiatives for this critical strategic planning driver for IECA, and our board is already hard at work defining them.
Protecting and elevating our members and our profession are not just limited to government initiatives. Intentional public awareness campaigns and community initiatives also secure and elevate our position. A great example of this is the AXS Companion to Common App, designed by IECA in collaboration with Oregon State University and launched at the beginning of September. The AXS Companion is a free, online resource to help students navigate Common App via 50+ step-by-step tutorial videos narrated by our very own IECA members, and it will directly benefit you as an IEC. All that time you normally spend guiding your student line-by-line on the Common App can now be freed up to discuss other items; it is a win-win. As IECA members, we normally work with many students from varying backgrounds and know them all—some only virtually. With an initiative like the AXS Companion, IECA and our members will touch the lives of students whom we will most likely never meet. And we are not just talking hundreds, but tens of thousands, and potentially millions of students down the line. This is Advocacy. This is Awareness. This is Action. You can expect similar engagements and initiatives to persist.
With what is already accomplished and what is in the works in Advocacy & Awareness, I expect my next phone call to be higher profile, proactive, and strategic. IECA no longer just has your back when something unexpected happens; IECA has a seat at the table, behind the closed doors where the unexpected expectedly happens. Ladies and gents: Your IEC status has just been cleared for takeoff!
Ibrahim Firat, MBA
IECA President