SEAHO Report - Winter 2018 - 13

SEAHO News

to extend my mentoring efforts with hopes of assisting each State Representative with their own professional
development goals. In order to be successful in this position, communication must be top priority and I will
take a creative approach to ensure we are effectively communicating and meeting all expectation. I view this
position as more than a coordinator or facilitator, but rather as a leader of a team with goals of keeping each
state well informed while ensuring everyone has an opportunity to tell their story.
If selected to serve as the Director of State Representatives it would be a great professional and personal honor.
SEAHO has been an influential part of my overall professional development. I look forward to offering my
services to SEAHO with hopes of working with each State Representative and the Governing Council to give
back to an organization that has given me so much. I appreciate your consideration and support.
Kat Mortensen, Coastal Carolina University
It is an honor to be considered as a candidate for the position of Director for
State Reps. I am in my 6th year at Coastal Carolina University and my 10th year
professionally. I currently serve as the Assistant Director for Main Campus within
Residence Success. I have worked in the SEAHO region for 6 and ½ years. I
started out at Savannah College of Art and Design as a Resident Director for a
year before moving on to Western Illinois University for a few years where I was
actively involved in GLACUHO before returning to the SEAHO region in July
of 2012. Since arriving back in the SEAHO region, I have worked to be involved
at both the regional and state levels by attending my first SEAHO conference in
Atlanta, GA in the spring of 2013 and my first SCHOA conference in the fall of
2013. It was a SCHOA that I saw a need that I could fill in the South Carolina
State Rep position. There was a serious lack of attendance at this SCHOA
conference from schools beyond three institutions. I found that it had been a
problem for a few years. I was excited about the opportunity to join the Executive Board for SCHOA and serve
SEAHO at the same time. Since the position was vacant, I I started taking on responsibilities immediately until
officially taking over at SEAHO 2014. I have worked to revitalize excitement in SCHOA by helping to bolster
attendance at our annual conference. Within this boost, we are now seeing schools in attendance who have been
vacant for years. I also worked with the SCHOA Executive Board to re-do the constitution and create additional
positions for more state involvement. We have pushed to get involvement not only from the 4 larger public
institutions but increase participation of the smaller public and private schools. In my four years, we have seen
these institutions continue to increase as well as the involvement of the members on the SCHOA Executive
Board.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my role as the SC State Rep but will relinquish that to our new SC State Rep at
SEAHO 2018 for another to experience the role. I am looking to continue my involvement in SEAHO and
the position of Director of State Reps makes logical sense. In my time, I have worked with the previous two
directors on improvements and clarifications in the State Reps' roles. I feel that my past experience in the State
Rep role can be valuable in keeping the organization moving forward and continuing to make improvements.
While my involvement has been short lived at this time, if given the opportunity to take on this new challenge,
I will make every effort to make a positive difference for SEAHO. Additionally, I will work to serve all
those in the region to the best of my ability and help to strengthen the relationships with the states. I will
work to continue to help the states make progress and find out what works best for them. I will be an active
and involved member of the SEAHO Executive Board and will help in any way I can to build on the strong
organizational foundation that is already in place. Thank you for your time and consideration.

SEAHO Report Winter 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SEAHO Report - Winter 2018