Do you like to read and participate in book clubs with other readers? “NACADA Reads” offers an opportunity to explore a mainstream publication or a scholarly article with interested colleagues.

This online book club allows participants to gain professional development experience, meet and learn from colleagues, be exposed to research on critical trends, and develop the habit of scholarly inquiry that is so important in higher education today. And as Schulenberg, et. al. (2010) argue, many professional practitioners who engage in scholarly reading experience increased empowerment and confidence in their profession. 

“NACADA Reads” allows participants to meet new colleagues and learn from one another. Please utilize these materials for this outstanding professional development opportunity.

Though advisors may have some experience in cultural competence through their personal and academic history, many may feel unprepared to relate to those with circumstances, upbringing, and challenges different from their own. To achieve cultural competency, advisors must first have a strong sense of self -- their personal identity and background -- as well as a strong sense of their institutions. They must then learn to understand and appreciate the complex backgrounds and experiences that students bring to their advising relationships. Join us as we read these two chapters that challenge advisors to first reflect about their own backgrounds and limitations, then provide tools on how to overcome personal assumptions and bias when working with various student populations.  

These chapters can be downloaded here: Developing self-knowledge as a first step toward cultural competence & Voices from the field: Advising international students

These copyrighted articles are excerpted from the 2015 NACADA/Jossey-Bass book The New Advisor Guidebook. These excerpts are posted exclusively for the use of participants in the March 2016 “NACADA Reads” Program. Reprinting and/or distribution beyond the NACADA Reads participants is strictly prohibited. Find information regarding purchase of The New Advisor Guidebook at http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Resources/Product-Details/ID/B27.aspx.

View Facebook Event for past discussion questions and the rest of the #NACADAreads community!

Be sure to use the hashtags #NACADAreads as you bring this discussion into the social media community.

Karen L. Archambault, Ed.D. currently serves as Executive Director Enrollment Management at Rowan College at Burlington County where she oversees recruitment, financial aid, the registrar's office as well as several retention programs for high risk students.  Prior work included recruitment, advising programs, and retention as well as new student programs and faculty support.  While Dr. Archambault’s experience spans a wide range of functional areas her research interests are in transfer student preparation and retention and in cross-campus efforts to support student success.  She regularly writes and presents for NACADA and currently serves as a Representative to the Council for the Commissions and Interest Groups Division.  

Yung-Hwa Anna Chow is the Assistant Director of the College of Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Advising Center, at Washington State University. Her accomplishments include writing for Academic Advising Today and serving as a member of the NACADA Research Committee and Finance Committee. She regularly presents at regional and annual conferences and served as a webinar panelist on the topic of Advising International Students from China. She is the recipient of a 2011 NACADA research grant and spent that summer in Shanghai, China, conducting research for the project.  In 2012-13, she served as Chair of the Global Engagement Commission for NACADA, and in February 2013, she led a second NACADA webinar on advising international students.

Readings:

• Download and read Developing self-knowledge as a first step toward cultural competence
• Download and read Voices from the field: Advising international students

Possible Discussion Questions:

• What are the core experiences from your own background that inform your relationships and assumptions about your students?
• What value do you and your institution place on the concept of inclusion? How does that value get put into action?
• What are your “most effective practices” and “tips for success” when working with international students?

Additional Materials:

• View the SPECIAL WEBINAR "The Five Questions: Understanding Yourself and Your Students”  with the authors, Karen Archambault and Yung-Hwa Anna Chow.
• Dialogue Transcript