Aura Rios Erickson, Shoreline Community College, Seattle, WA

Past Involvement in NACADA:

Years in NACADA: 5 years

National Offices Held and Accomplishments Achieved While in Office: N/A

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

• Attended Region 8 conferences - 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001

Committee Activities and Accomplishments: N/A

Commission/Interest Group Activities and Accomplishments:

• Presenter at a Region 8 Conference on New Trends in Advising:ESL Advising
• Current member, ESL & International Student Advising Commission and Two-Year Colleges Commission
• Current member, Distance Education Advising Interest Group

Other:

Platform Statement:

I have worked as an Immigrant Student Advisor for Shoreline Community College since 1999. Our program serves about 800 immigrant/refugee students. In my current position, I help immigrant/refugee students stay in college and achieve their personal educational goals. Our program integrates both immigrant and international students in the classroom. Therefore, I work closely with the International Programs Office to strengthen our advising services to students.

Prior to my current position, I worked in the interpretation/translation field as an interpreter and later as a coordinator of an interpretation/translation program (offering over 32 different languages and dialects). This program served the immigrant/refugee community with access to social and health services. In addition, I worked as an Associate Faculty at the community college level and as an Advisor for Minority Students at the University of Washington.

I myself came to this country as an international student from Lima, Peru several years ago. I am committed to helping advisors better meet the needs of this diverse student population. I believe that I can bring to the commission my experience from both the university and the community college perspectives. I believe the purpose of this commission is to provide advisors with valuable resources, information and opportunities for professional development to continue improving the services they provide to this ever growing student population.