Sufficient time has passed that academic advising indeed does have a history and it needs to be recorded in some depth. Attempts at recording aspects of the history of academic advising have already taken place. The NACADA Journal has published one article on the history of NACADA and is contemplating a second one. Virginia Gordon has published a history of academic advising at Ohio State University in the NACADA Journal. The Mentor has published an historical time line for advising along with an article on the start of advising at Johns Hopkins University.

This Potential Interest Group would stimulate writing more articles for publication and would encourage a discussion of the role of academic advising and NACADA in higher education and at specific colleges and universities, both nationally and internationally. Oral histories would also be appropriate. The direction of this potential Interest Group would no doubt reflect the interests of the group members.

Given the status of academic advising in higher education and the tremendous growth of NACADA, it seems appropriate to begin recording the history of advising more systematically. It is important to know where we have been, where we are now, and where we might be going. We can have a clearer focus on this if we examine the significant event, persons, and programs that make up the world of academic advising.

A meeting is planned for the annual conference in Baltimore. Please check the conference agenda (when available) for time and place. I am willing to facilitate the first meeting, to assess the level of interest, and discuss how to proceed. I envision us operating very informally; specifically, I would hope that we might encourage those with a specific interest to begin their work in earnest and to stimulate further those who have only begun to think about this topic.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Eric White, Chair, at erw2@psu.edu.