2009 CONFERENCE SESSIONS

2009 Conference Sessions

Please keep checking back for updates and session times.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

9:00 – 10:00 am, Garden City Ballrooms A-D

The Ultimate Catch: Strengthening the At-Risk Advising Net
Nikol Luther, Lewis-Clark State College

Current advising dialogue suggests that the new generation of college students as a whole is at risk of academic failure for a variety of reasons. In this session we will discuss what makes a student at-risk, how institutions can track and manage at-risk populations, and how the face of advising is changing to address the rising at-risk population. Participants will share examples, engage in learning activities, and foster discussion to explore how advisors can meet the needs of at-risk students.

Scale the Mountain to View the Plains: Adapting Technology to Create an Online Orientation for Student Success
Christina Kincaid and Jaqueline Almdale, Washington State University

When advising new students, advisors are challenged to meet a variety of needs. We must develop ways to connect students to our institutions, foster a sense of belonging, teach students how and where to access information, when to seek assistance, and how to successfully complete their degrees. Drawing on a range of technologies, WSU Distance Degree Program advisors created an online advising orientation that is informative and interactive. Used effectively, this online orientation is a valuable tool for disseminating a large amount of essential information, while freeing up staff time to take a more developmental approach with students to build the advisor-advisee relationship and foster student retention.

From Boomers to Millennials--Communicating the Value of College

Lewis Watkins, Molly Michaud, and Audrey Bourne, North Idaho College

Do you feel like you just can't relate to your students anymore? With so many generational differences these days, it is getting harder to keep up with the changes in values and expectations. Join us, a collaborative team of faculty and professional advisors, in a lively and upbeat presentation that highlights these generational differences, and then offers the audience the opportunity to explore effective strategies that communicate the value of a college education to all students.

NACADA Update and Feedback Session

Charlie Nutt, NACADA Executive Director,Casey Self, NACADA President, and Brett McFarlane, NACADA Region 8 Chair

This informal roundtable discussion is to provide a forum for attendees to visit with NACADA Leaders and members of the Executive Office staff regarding the Association's many initiatives and programs and to give participants an opportunity to provide feedback and ask questions. Anyone is welcome.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

10:15 - 11:15 am, Garden City Ballrooms A-D

How Native Culture may Impact the Advising Process - "Indian Education" in the Montana University System
Ellen Swaney, Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education, Montana University System

How Native Culture may Impact the Advising Process - "Indian Education" in the Montana University System. Do you understand how your culture, whether US American or Native, may impact the communication that occurs when you
advise a person of another culture? Attend this session to gain insights from the presenter who has 18 years of experience dealing with diversity issues specifically related to American Indian/minority issues in the Montana University System. Participants will leave the session: 1. informed on how the new Indian Education for All legislation impacts the
educational community in Montana, 2. have gained knowledge on the specific programs available in Montana to assist AI/AN and minority students, and 3. will have developed a plan on what they can do with individuals, in their
programs, and on their campuses.

What Are You Going To Do With THAT Major?

Diane Donnelly, Montana State University

"What Are You Going To Do With THAT Major?" This presentation will provide a context within which to talk about the value of a Liberal Arts degree, in both practical and philosophical terms. The connection between a major and a viable financial future has always been an important concern, but in the current economic climate, these pressures may increase. Students may feel they must declare a major leading to a specific career (ie: Nursing, Accounting, Engineering), when in reality their interests and abilities may be contrary to the knowledge and skills embedded in that degree.  Students considering or pursuing Liberal Arts majors may need more guidance to understand the value and possibilities of their degrees, as well as practical ways to “add value” to their education.

Get Recognized! Crafting a Successful NACADA Awards Packet
Kerry Kincanon, Oregon State University and Karen Sullivan-Vance, Western Oregon University

Did you know that NACADA has a well-established awards program that recognizes excellence in advising, advising administration, institutional advising programs, and advising technology? Region 8 has a bounty of outstanding advisors, administrators, and programs that are flying under the radar, and the time has come to change that! Come join us as two
Region 8 advisors who have served as readers on the Awards Committee share how to craft an awards packet that will get noticed. We will discuss the procedures and processes behind awards nominations, that, in our experience, makes for a successful packet.

Student Services to Ensure Successful Transfers
William Macgregor, Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education, Montana University System, Betsy Palmer, Montana State University, Becky Lyons, Montana State University Billings, and TyRee Jenks, Montana State University Billings

A panel discussion will explore research conducted into ways that the Montana University System (MUS) can facilitate transfer student success not merely by clarifying academic issues (confusion and inconsistency regarding course requirements, etc.), but by addressing student services for transfer students. Questions addressed include the costs and benefits of improving successful student transfer experiences, proposed ways to address typical problems experienced by transfer students (as they differ from non-transferring, “native” students at an institution); what can be done at a departmental, an institutional, and a system level to improve services for transfer students to ensure their successful continuation and completion of their academic objectives.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

1:30 – 2:30 pm, Garden City Ballrooms A-D

Student success through informed decision making: the health care experience.
Sheila Nielsen-Preiss, Montana State University

The Montana State University Post Baccalaureate Pre-Medical Certificate program is designed to support students in their quest to enter a health professional school and career. Participating students have obtained a college degree, but have chosen to re-train in order to practice medicine. The goals of the Certificate program are to provide students with 1) an academic foundation for health professional school competitiveness, and 2) a health care experience to inform educational and career goals. In this presentation, we will discuss a program developed in partnership with Bozeman Deaconess Hospital to provide students with a glimpse of the breadth and depth of a career in health care. This program, combined with fundamental academic advice, provides a platform to identify and achieve student goals.

Absorbing Transfer Shock: Utilizing specialized support to counter transfer student challenges

Sally Garner and Terrie Minner, University of Oregon

Transfer students are experienced college students but they are nonetheless new students. They have unique transition needs. While they often have a driven "get in, get out, get on with my life" attitude, they should have a chance to investigate all that your campus has to offer. Come discover how two different transfer seminars, one housed within an academic department and the other in a centralized advising office, provide specialized support for the unique challenges faced by incoming transfer students. Taught by academic advisors and supported by campus resource partners, these seminars have a proven track record of assisting transfer students to "hit the ground running" while, concurrently, allowing them to discover and explore the opportunities provided by their new majors and new campus.

Moving Beyond Organizational Theory to Actual Organization!
Stephanie Hamington, University of Colorado Denver and Jeff Malone, Oregon State University

Many advisors are familiar with the different models or organizational structures used in advising (Split, Supplementary, etc). But how is this related to organizing an advisor’s actual work day? Do you wonder if you are using your staff resources efficiently? How can you organize an advisor’s day to increase availability while allowing time for paperwork,
professional development, etc? When is it better to work with students in a group or individual setting? Would it be better to have scheduled appointments or stop-in times available for students?

This session will address different ideas for maximizing your resources. The presenters, with experience from a variety of institutions, will discuss assignment of advisees, scheduled appointments vs. walk-in, use of teaching faculty to help meet demand and more.

Successful Tips for Transitioning from 2 -Year Tribal College to a University
Salena Beaumont Hill, The University of Montana and Tracie McDonald, Salish Kootenai College

This session will cover the common practices used by Student Service Advisors working with transfer students. The presentation will focus on Tribal College students who are preparing to transfer to a University. Presenters will discuss the transition process from both perspectives: preparing students to transition out of a Tribal College and acclimating
students into a University setting. Advisors from both Salish Kootenai College and The University of Montana will discuss activities developed in assisting transfer students.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

2:45 – 3:45 pm, Garden City Ballrooms A-D

Advising Across Cultures: Every Student is an Adventure
Mary Groom-Hall, The University of Montana

Today’s multicultural advisors, acting as 21st century diplomats to acculturate foreign and marginalized domestic students to the academic world, must employ a full range of advising techniques that echo the smart tools of good statecraft. This presentation will examine the milieu from which students come—highly family-oriented or not; high- or low-context culture; individualistic or communal culture; and the individual student’s stance vis a vis his or her cultural background. A brief description of high- and low-context cultures and how student behaviors reflect those cultures will be followed by a discussion and sharing of best practices.

Participants will learn about significant differences between worldviews, how those worldviews impact behavior, and how best to interact with students in a context conducive to their success.

Turning Up The HEAT: The Evolution of Learner Support, Tracking, and Technology at Athabasca University.
Serita Smith, Margot Young, Anita Spence, Cindy Koziej, and Amanda Boon,Athabasca University

Find out how our geographically dispersed Advisors and learners successfully communicate. We can now seamlessly and accurately communicate information to enhance learner’s experiences and success in distance education. AU Advisors have adopted a student tracking system called HEAT. AU Advisors will share their experiences with tracking and storing
information through HEAT and other media to stream-line advising services to learners at a distance. Advisors will also share with you training tools and techniques used for training new Advisors.

Facebook Face-Off: Identifying Problem Areas and Developing Resolutions
Laura Wright and Brian French, The University of Montana

The rapid development and widespread usage of social networking sites has presented the academic advisor with a unique set of opportunities and subsequent problems. A recent study shows that between 80-90 percent of college students have Facebook accounts. Of this number, most check it daily.   If only students would check their official email this frequently! This discussion will encourage advisors to share the ways in which they use (or would like to use) Facebook as well as the challenges they’ve faced in dealing with issues of confidentiality and university policies regarding
this new technology. Samples of a ‘best practices’ document will be shared in an effort to better cultivate discussions between advisors and their home institutions.

Adventures in strengthening training programs for faculty advisors
Michael Ingram, Whitworth University

This presentation seeks to describe components of three faculty advisor training programs. It will emphasize the benefits of trainers using a learner centered approach rather than a trainer centered approach. First, it will describe the differences in these approaches. Second, it will describe the evolution of a faculty wide advisor training meeting from a
presentation centered focus to a learner centered focus. Third, it will describe the use of problem solving exercises in training sessions for new faculty advisors. Fourth, it will describe the development of lunch training sessions for faculty advisors. Finally, it will invite questions to discuss best practices.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

4:00 – 5:00 pm, Garden City Ballrooms A-D

Enhancing the Advising Culture on Campus
Greg Young, Montana State University

Within many campus cultures, there are vastly different perspectives, practices, and attitudes, when it comes to academic advising. This session will put forth suggestions that can be attempted at most campuses, including: funding ideas for a students-in-transition adviser; the forming of a campus-wide academic advising council; building on the work of NACADA; organizing state-wide events centered around advising and transferability; implementing electronic advising tools; conducting on-campus training sessions for advisers, designed for specific groups of faculty and/or staff; and enlisting the power of the student association to promote advising goals.

Results include increased funding for advising, increased participation and more positive attitudes from the faculty, and increased energy and enthusiasm about the importance of advising from the administration.

Scenes for Learning and Reflection: An Academic Advising Professional Development DVD
Kerry Kincanon, Oregon State University

Mrs. Williams wants to make sure her daughter gets off to a good start in college and accompanies Rachel to her first advising appointment. Sean is upset that two courses cannot be accepted in transfer for his major, and his advisor is challenged to help him move past his disappointment. These are two “vignettes” from the new NACADA Professional Development DVD based upon advising scenarios suggested by NACADA Commission and Interest Groups. The DVD includes scenes with students and professional and faculty advisors dealing with relevant advising issues present on today’s campuses. Session participants will view and discuss several scenes from the DVD and will also explore ways in which to use this new tool on their campuses.

The Multiple Hats of Advising
Kellie Murphy and Chris Gana, Washington State University

To be a successful advisor in a university setting, it is important to understand your own advising style in interacting with students. This workshop examines several different styles of advising by looking at the different “hats” we wear on a daily basis. Based on the “Playing the Mad Hatter” activity by Shirley Richardson and Dotty Alexander, material presented is intended to provide new advisors with a starting point for understanding and developing their personal style in relation to their specific advising role, while seasoned advisors may discover ways that they can break out of their routine advising strategy.   

Trials, Tribulations and Triumphs!
Nicole Dunn, Dawn McReynolds, Lisa Berthon, and W. Davida Stafford, Central Washington University

How many new advisors look back at their first quarter, semester or year and think “WOW” that was easy? Or are we always thinking “I could have done this,” or “I could have done that?” This round table session will allow advisors with one year or less of experience to discuss, share, and receive support and feedback from other new advisors as well as veteran professionals. Topics that will be brought to the table may include:

Professional Development Opportunities
Where To Look For Support
Insights From Veteran Advisors
Resources
Handling Crisis Students
Self-care
Other concerns/ideas

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

9:00 – 10:00 am, Garden City Ballrooms A-D

Advising the Troubled Student: Mental Health Guidelines for Advisors
Cynthia Garthwait, The University of Montana

Advisors who take their role seriously and who are supportive of student personal and professional growth often find themselves in the position of working with students troubled by mental illness, substance abuse, family conflict, and other mental health issues. Advisors need to understand their role in such situations, develop effective guidelines for dealing with troubled students, and collaborate with existing campus and community resources.

Does One Less Hand-out Make a Difference?: A Roundtable Discussion about Eco-friendly Advising
Jennifer Joslin, Lori Manson, and Terrie Minner, The University of Oregon

Is a sustainable advising office possible? Can advising be an eco-friendly practice? These questions are triggered by our awareness of diminishing resources and the technology trends that have replaced paper-based advising resources.

Come to this roundtable to learn about key trends and to discuss how these trends affect your work with students. Participants will share questions and campus strategies, receive an electronic list of resources, and formulate questions for future discussion. Participants with laptops can log onto a PowerPoint page to follow the presentation and record their notes electronically.

The facilitators are experienced administrators and presenters asking these questions on their eco-friendly campus. This presentation is for advisors and administrators at any size institution, in small and large advising offices.

Reaching Outside the Box (Can you hear me now?)
Gary Coffman, Lewis Watkins, Denise Moore, and Christina Cox,North Idaho College

Are students getting their full measure of advising? Good advising usually exists if students would just come in to see their advisors. Maybe students would seek out advising more if it were easier to connect to. Join us for an exploration of advising delivery methods designed to make advising more accessible to students. This will include telephone, email,
web-cams, and Skpe advising, demonstrated by our advisor presenting from her office in Fort Benning, Georgia.

The Perils of the Big Frog
Laure Pengelly Drake, The University of Montana

What do we do with the bright, inquisitive, challenging, morally earnest, eager-for-solutions students who do not fit our course plans? In Socrates’s case and Galileo’s, we kill them or excommunicate them. Too often, even at colleges and universities, we just tell them to sit on the sidelines or tell them their work is so splendid it requires no comment for further improvement. This presentation/discussion addresses problems faced by top students in schools designed for all levels of ability. The aim will be to devise/discuss some solutions to keep those students academically engaged
and fulfilled in the schools they have chosen. We will also attempt to devise/discuss ways to keep them competitive with their intellectual peers at other schools for the next stage of scholarships, fellowships, graduate school, and work.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

10:15 – 11:15 am, Garden City Ballrooms A-D

Assessing Health Profession Students Academic Advising experience through the lens of Personal Investment Theory
Russ Richardson, Whitworth University

Personal Investment Theory (PIT) provides a theoretical framework from which to examine, resolve, and advance academic advising by considering a multifaceted and interactive relationship between individuals and their environment. PIT is a three part, choice and decision making oriented framework. Those parts include:
1.   One’s sense of self
2.   Students social culture and environment
3.   Patterns of behavior.
PIT helps academic advisors to understand how students’ motivation clarifies the investment of time, talents and energy related to academic decision making. Careful analysis of the interrelationship between those three factors can contribute to our understanding of the role of academic advising for students in health professions.

Lions and Tigers and Math: Oh My!
Sharon O'Hare and Arlene Walker-Andrews, The University of Montana

Recall the Wizard of Oz: a yellow brick road fraught with adventure and peril. For many college students, the path to success and graduation is often blocked by the lions and tigers of math. Students across the nation are ill-prepared, and in some cases, wrongly placed in their initial math coursework. At UM, beginning in 2006, we looked at student placement, performance, and persistence. Six times as many students failed their first math course as English Composition. Using results of the research, UM introduced a number of initiatives targeted to improve students’ performance in math. Our presentation will show the clear connections among advising, accurate placement, math tutoring, curricular reform, and the need for ongoing assessment. Ample time for questions and answers will be provided throughout the session.

Reflective Advising: Using Past Lessons to Enhance Future Advising
Laura Katunich, Clare Brown, Lawren Lutrin, and Scott Carlton, Central Washington University

How can mindful and consistent reflective practice improve the quality of academic advising services at your school? In this interactive presentation, we will introduce the theory of reflective practice and participants will learn how to apply this concept to academic advising. New and experienced advisors from Central Washington University will share the lessons they have learned from incorporating reflection into their advising practice. There will also be an opportunity for participants to reflect on personal experiences that inform advising practice.   Join us to discover what academic advising lessons you can glean from your past!

Transgender 101: What Advisors and Administrators Should Know
Jennifer Joslin and Terrie Minner, The University of Oregon

Interested in learning more about critical issues for the transgender student population? Do you have questions about terminology? Are you interested in transgender resources that you can use with students and colleagues?

Come to this session and learn about the transgender movement, the key issues that affect our students, and how to bring these issues back to your campus. Participants will learn about key issues and terminology, receive an extensive transgender resource hand-out, and determine one thing they can do to further transgender education when they return to their home institution.

This resource-based, discussion-oriented session will be facilitated by a former chair of the NACADA LGBTA Concerns Commission. This presentation is for all professional and faculty advisors and advising administrators regardless of advising experience and institutional size.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

11:30 am – 12:30 pm, Garden City Ballrooms A-D

Academic Coaching: An Engineering Venture in Peers Helping Peers
Caitlin Azhderian and Teri Duever, Oregon State University

Traditionally, students who decide to major in engineering have a rewarding, yet, rigorous and competitive road ahead of them. Without a strong tool set to achieve greater academic success, it can be difficult for students to develop academic self-confidence and achieve academic goals while on this road. This session will focus on academic coaching as a model for increasing student academic success and retention in engineering programs. Examples will be shared as to how one institution has piloted an academic coaching program to support the academic success of pre-engineering students, promote leadership development opportunities for upper-division engineering students, and increase retention through cross campus collaboration.

Native American Advising: American Indian Students Speak Out
James Burns, Rita Sand, and Jioanna Carjuzaa, Montana State University

This seminar is designed to equip new and practicing advisors with the skill, knowledge, and dispositions to meet American Indian/Alaskan Native advising and retention issues. Both native and non-native would like to see American Indian history and contemporary life be better understood by non-natives. Therefore, as educators and advisors it is important to understand the cultural dynamics and implications when serving native student populations. Many non-Indians are aware that their knowledge of Indian history, culture and contemporary life is limited, and most are eager to learn more. Given non-Indians' desire to expand their knowledge base, advisors and educators will hear some first-hand accounts of Native American student concerns and needs on a college campus. Advisors will become aware of principles that will help them achieve cultural competency and mutual understanding.

Techniques for Creating Pathways for Students Through Effective Interviewing
Tracy Grazley and Shauna Basile, The University of Montana Western

The first meeting between an advisor and a student can be stressful and leave both the student and the advisor feeling unsatisfied with the meeting. Future meetings can also be a struggle if the initial meeting has not created a rapport between the student and advisor. As with any skill, it takes practice and knowledge to develop skills and confidence. Effective interviewing requires effective or active listening skills, successful questioning techniques, and the ability to create a rapport with the student.

Participants will be able to identify and exchange specialized techniques of interviewing, active listening skills, and how to create a rapport with students. Participants will learn how to use the information from the interview to create a pathway for student success and graduation.

Adventures in Advising Research: A Discourse on Region 8 Advising

Clay Cox, Boise State University