The 25th Annual Higher Education Government Relations Conference—held Dec. 3-5, 2018, in Atlanta—explored change, uncertainty and polarization. The conference, hosted by CASE, the American Association of Community Colleges, American Association of State Colleges and Universities and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, brought federal and state relations professionals together to learn, network and strategize on how to effectively advocate for their colleges and universities.

The conference opened with keynote remarks from Georgia Governor Nathan Deal who shared his thoughts on the state of public higher education. He also offered advice on how higher ed government relations professionals can be most effective when engaging with policymakers, including always doing your homework and anticipating the "what if" questions.

CASE President and CEO Sue Cunningham moderated a panel on understanding and improving the public perception of higher education featuring:

• Mark Becker, president of Georgia State University,
• Andrew Kelly, senior vice president for strategy and policy at the University of North Carolina System and
• Juliana Menasce Horowitz, associate director of research at the Pew Research Center.

The group discussed Pew Research Center findings on the public perception of higher education and discussed how colleges and universities can work to improve perception through better communication, engagement and institutional policy changes.

During the Washington Update panel, Brian Flahaven, CASE's senior director for advocacy, joined colleagues from AASCU, APLU and AACC to update attendees on the latest federal legislative and regulatory developments affecting public colleges and universities and shared some predictions on what lies ahead in 2019.

Robert W. Amler, dean of the School of Health Sciences and Practice and vice president for government affairs at New York Medical College, and John N. Diamond, president and executive director of the University of Maine Alumni Association, were honored for their achievements, leadership and innovation in state government relations during the 2018 State Relations Awards Luncheon sponsored by the College Board. Diamond received the Marvin D. "Swede" Johnson award for revitalizing the University of Maine's legislative strategy and standing in the state. Amler received the Edwin Crawford Award for Innovation for his success in building a government affairs operation from the ground up and establishing New York Medical College as a policy influencer and leader in public health.

CASE is grateful to our association partners, conference sponsors, the Task Force on Higher Education Government Relations and attendees for making the 25th anniversary conference a success. The date and location of the 2019 Higher Education Government Relations Conference will be announced early next year.

This article is from the December 2018 BriefCASE issue.