St. Andrews University Support - Part 3

Prior to committing to host Nationals McElveen had to garner the support of the University . She went straight to the top of the University to see if it was something that could be made possible. She first approached University President Paul Baldasare and Dean Robert Hopkins with the idea and discussed with them the benefits to St. Andrews and its students. “It’s a value for our current students. Most people will never be able to experience an opportunity like this one. What our students will learn, experience and the contacts that they will make will be invaluable to them,” McElveen remembers saying as part of her presentation to the administrators. “Putting on this event will be putting a feather in St. Andrews cap.” The Administration was supportive of the idea and gave her the go ahead to proceed with planning for the event. In addition to eliciting their support McElveen also had to ask a favor concerning the academic calendar for the spring of 2012. Traditionally, IHSA Nationals has conflicted with exam week and graduation, if St. Andrews was to host then the academic calendar would need to be adjusted to avoid this conflict. 1


Although McElveen received the go ahead from the administrators, it was up to the faculty at St. Andrews to make the final decision. St. Andrews is unique in that the faculty makes the decisions on the academic schedule. Several of McElveen’s colleagues from the administration and the faculty shared her enthusiasm and understood the experiential benefits available to the students.3 Over the course of the semester they openly discussed and educated their colleagues on the benefits of taking on such a huge endeavor. 3 As the time for a decision came closer McElveen sent an email to the faculty explaining what she would be presenting in the next faculty meeting so that the discussion could continue and the professors would have sufficient time to prepare questions and voice any concerns. The time spent in preparing the faculty to be amenable to adjusting the academic calendar paid off. At the meeting, Dean Hopkins called the vote for the date changes to finals week and graduation to accommodate the IHSA National Championships (in effect pushing the academic calendar back a week) and everyone was in favor. “It was amazing!” expressed McElveen, “It was fabulous and says a lot about our school and how supportive they really are.” McElveen was especially touched when several members of the faculty and staff were able to attend this special event including several from the administration including the President and Dean. “It really gave the administration of the college an inside view of what hosting this national championship entailed,” said McElveen. 1 With approval of St. Andrews and Cacchione it was made official in early January of 2010 that the Governor James B. Hunt Horse Complex would be the home of the 2012 IHSA National Championships.

Social Media Intern, Kimberly Graves, took on the challenge of documenting the planning and organization of the IHSA National Championships that we hosted in Raleigh, NC last May.


Part Two discussed the selection of the hosting facility. Next week Part Four - The Real Planning Begins!