Dear Members of the Canada Interest Group,

I would like to introduce myself as the new Chair of the Canada Interest Group. For those of you who do not know me, I will give you a little of my professional background -- my personal background is the kind of information used to blackmail! I have been working at Lethbridge Community College (LCC) for 4 years. I spent my first two years as an Educational Liaison Officer travelling around the prairies recruiting for the College. I was active in the Educational Liaison Association of Alberta and came to understand first hand the importance of communication amongst colleagues. This is particularly the case when you have a job that no one else seems to really understand!

I moved into Academic Advising two years ago and it has been one heck of a whirlwind ride. The learning curve in this type of position is astronomical. I was sent to a NACADA regional conference two months after I began my position and was amazed by the resources and enthusiasm for Academic Advising. Since then I have been to two National conferences and will be attending the Region 8 & 9 conference in March.

It is really important to me, and to many of you I know, to not only network with other professionals but to advance our professional knowledge and overall understanding of what we do, while at the same time re-enforcing the role Academic Advisors play in our institutions. We need to celebrate our successes within our institutions and within our organization. I have been brainstorming a number of ideas as to how we can be more connected and recognize each other for what we do.

Brace yourself -- these are not earth shattering ideas. In fact, many of you have probably had the same thoughts! I am in a fortunate position to try and implement some ideas as my institution is supporting this appointment 100%. Many of us have the will and desire but not always the resources or time to begin outside projects. I would really like to see an online 'newsletter' that comes out once or twice a year informing us of the good, the bad, and the spectacular of Advising in Canada. If you have any ideas of what you would like to brag about from your institution, please get in touch with me so the ball can begin rolling.

I would also like to make more use of the website that we have. I am currently reading over the guidelines from NACADA to understand what our options are. Any web fanatics out there may have some wonderful ideas for our pages found at www.nacada.ksu.edu/InterestGroups/C35/index.htm. Take a look and see if there is something you would like to see added.

As always, communication and networking are keys to our growth and value as an interest group. For those of you that are attending the Region 8/9 conference in Hawaii, I hope to get a chance to meet you. LCC is running a round table session specifically for Canadians and wanna-be Canucks, "Aloha Canada" -- dates and times will be announced once the conference schedule has been determined. I am hoping that we can also arrange a lunch or supper for all of us to get together. We should be fairly easy to recognize--we will be the ones with either the freakishly white skin early in the week or the sunburns at the end of the conference!

I really am excited about this opportunity and look forward to any advice or input you have. I have already told Jill Johnson from Guelph that I will be continuing to pick her brain and using her as a resource!

All the best,

Natasha

Natasha Buis
Academic Advisor, Enrolment Management & Learner Services
Lethbridge Community College
Alberta, Canada
natasha.buis@lethbridgecollege.ab.ca
1-800-572-0103 (within Canada); 403-320-3323