John Mortensen, Utah State University, Logan, UT

Past Involvement in NACADA:

Years in NACADA: 5 years
Regional Activities/Offices Held, including accomplishments achieved while in office: Chaired the 2001 State Conference of the Utah Advising and Orientation Association (UAOA) and have been a member of the conference committee since 1998.  Served on the 1999 Region 10 Regional Conference Committee.
National Offices Held and Accomplishments Achieved While in Office: Chair of 2002 National Conference in Salt Lake City. Currently serving as an Administrative Division Representative in the new NACADA organizational structure.
Committee Activities and Accomplishments:
Commission/Interest Group Activities and Accomplishments: Member, Advisor Training and Development Commission and Advising Administration Commission.
Other: Attended NACADA National Conferences in 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2002.  Attended NACADA
Region 10 Conferences in 1999 and 2001.  Attended NACADA Summer Institute in 1998.  Will be attending Advising Administrators Conference in 2003.  Served as Member-at-Large for the Northwest Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NWASAP), 1995-97.  Named the 1995 Region V Outstanding New Professional for the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA).  Served as Time and Space Chair for the NASPA National Conference, 1995.

Advisor training and development is currently one of my main focuses in my position as Director of Advising and Transition Services at Utah State University (USU).  USU is in the process of creating an advising certificate program, patterned after the Master Advising Program at Southwest Missouri State University.  We are also closely monitoring the progress of Virginia Gordon's task force in NACADA to create a national advisor registry.  I want to ensure that the qualifications an advisor must have to be placed on the registry and included as part of our training.  A lot of the successes at my own institution are a result of the collaboration and sharing of ideas with my colleagues in NACADA.  If elected, I would like to work together to create a website that gives more specific insight about the training and development programs at institutions represented by members of our commission.  I would also like to seek institutions with best practices and encourage NACADA members to present at regional and national conferences.   I would appreciate your support in these endeavors.