Ellen Nagy, The University of Toledo, Toledo, OH

Past Involvement in NACADA:

Years in NACAD:  2 years

National Offices Held and Accomplishments Achieved While in Office:

Regional Activities/Offices Held, including accomplishments achieved while in office:

Committee Activities and Accomplishments:

Commission/Interest Group Activities and Accomplishments:

• Current member of Commission on Undecided & Exploratory Students and Advisor Training and Development Commission

Other:

• I joined NACADA last year because I was interested in sharing some of the resources we had developed at the national conferences in Salt Lake City and Dallas.
• Presented at the 2002 and 2003 National Conferences.

Platform Statement:

I have been working with deciding students within the context of a career center and through teaching first year orientation and career and life planning classes for the past eight years. I am very passionate about developing quality interventions to assist students in making appropriate decisions and to help them set and attain their goals.

My main objective for this commission is to create a greater awareness of deciding and exploratory students - one that highlights their intelligence, potential, and success, rather than focus on their "at risk" status. Secondly, I would like to see more collaborative work between colleagues, particularly between academic advisors and those in career counseling offices. Third, a focus on retention is greatly needed.

A student's decision regarding major and career options is a factor in student persistence; advising programs should have ties to career services as a part of a campus retention plan. I envision a strong commission dedicated to sharing and disseminating information and resources for academic and career advisors who work with deciding students. This commission should begin the new year by identifying and developing strategies for identifying successful and innovative programming, fostering collaboration, and assessing member needs and talents.