The National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities has named Brenau University President Ed Schrader to a three-year term on the governing board of directors. The appointment was made during the organization’s annual meeting in Washington this week.
Schrader is one of 14 new members of the 47-member board who assumed their responsibilities at the close of the annual NAICU meeting. The board advises NAICU’s committees on accountability, student aid, tax policy and policy analysis and public relations. Schrader will represent NAICU’s Region IV, which includes colleges and universities in Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.
“A stagnant economy, rapidly changing demographics and tightening fiscal constraints are among the unprecedented challenges facing private higher education today,” said NAICU President David L. Warren. “Ed Schrader has a deep understanding of the issues our members face nationally, in the Southeast and on their own campuses. His experience, in combination with the other new board members, will be critical over the next 12 months as NAICU and our members navigate this period of change and challenge for American higher education.”
Comprising more than 1,000 members, NAICU represents private, nonprofit higher education institutions throughout the United States. The association works with another Brenau-affiliated organization, the Council of Independent Colleges, on a variety of issues affecting higher education, including college and university accountability, student loan and financial assistance policies and programs and campus voter registration.
“NAICU is the national body that speaks directly to Congress and the Department of Education on behalf of all private colleges and universities,” said Peter D. “Pete” Miller, who is chair of the Brenau University Board of Trustees. “This appointment to the organization’s leadership is indeed an honor and it reflects Dr. Schrader’s continuing commitment not only to Brenau but also to higher education in general. Dr. Schrader has a real passion for making a difference through multiple venues. This will give him one more platform for pursuing this passion.”
Schrader currently is completing the last year of his two terms as a member of the governing board of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, the officially sanctioned accreditation organization for all public and private institutions in the Southeastern United States. He has spoken and written widely on a variety of higher education issues, including federal government ratings of higher education institutions, health and safety of students and faculty on campuses and higher education finance.
In 2014 he was appointed to a special blue ribbon commission of college and university presidents from around the nation who are studying new organizational models and philosophies for the delivery of higher education in the future.
Schrader has been the president of Brenau since 2005.
