USMMA Advisory Council set for first public meeting

MARAD has announced that the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Advisory Council will conduct its first public meeting on Monday, August 7 at the USMMA campus in Kings Point N.Y.

MARAD announced the names of the inaugural members of the council earlier this year.

The thirteen inaugural members, five of whom are USMMA graduates, including one member from the Class of 2022, are leading experts drawn from academia, the maritime industry and maritime labor, the senior ranks of the U.S. military, and federal entities —including the Coast Guard, Military Sealift Command, Naval War College, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command.

Their areas of expertise include administering institutions of higher learning; sexual assault and sexual harassment prevention and response; infrastructure and facilities management; and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The council will provide independent advice and recommendations on improving the academy, including the areas of curriculum development and training programs; diversity, equity, and inclusion; sexual assault prevention and response; infrastructure maintenance and redevelopment; midshipmen health and welfare; governance and administrative policies; and other matters.

As part of this work, the council will develop strategies and recommendations to address the issues identified in the 2021 National Academy of Public Administration’s Comprehensive Assessment of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy report.

The USMMA Advisory Council meeting is open to the public and you can find more details on that in a Federal Register notice published July 20, 2023