Charlie Nutt, NACADA Executive Director
What a tremendous year 2013 has been for NACADA, our leaders, our Executive Office staff, and most importantly our members! This year will be remembered in many ways but especially for our membership growth; our continued expansion globally; our focus on membership retention and leadership development; the Board’s approval of a new vision, mission, and goals for the association’s work; and our vast technological advances making our members’ connection with NACADA electronically easier and more beneficial to them.
(Above: Leaders and members from Australia, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and the U.S. gather at International Conference at the University of Maastricht to discuss future global initiatives.)
But the magnificent progress that NACADA has made in 2013 has not altered an important strength of NACADA: the “family” culture of our association and the personalized attention each member receives from our elected and appointed leaders and from the Executive Office staff. From the very simple message we send by not having titles on our event name tags to ensure everyone feels valued and open to meet and network with others regardless of their degree or position, to our very intentional culture in the Executive Office of members always talking to a staff member and not an electronic message, NACADA has been built on a strong foundation of learning, networking, and collaboration.
(Above: Charlie Nutt and Past Presidents Jayne Drake and Nancy King discussed NACADA global initiatives in the Middle East with Qatar University President Sheikha Al-Misnad and Director of Advising and Retention Selma Albelrahim Haghamed)
Our Board of Directors and our Council members work diligently to connect with as many members as they can at our in-person events and also through electronic means. Two excellent examples are the videos about our association that NACADA President Joanne Damminger and Vice President JP Regalado have made about our association.
You can view Joanne’s video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB5OtKrclVY&feature=youtu.be, and JP’s video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CyWyfJgGME&feature=youtu.be
In addition, all our leaders, past leaders, members, and EO staff are constantly researching and developing plans for ways our members can connect more easily, whether it be electronically through the 2013 NACADA Annual Conference mobile app, or through securing conference sites and agendas that make networking an essential part of the events. Utilizing Twitter and Facebook for networking allows participation by those both attending and not attending the events. (Right: Board of Directors member Nathan Vickers makes personal contact with new members at the Orientation session during the 2013 Annual Conference in Salt Lake City.)
As we all know, student learning occurs best in a culture where opportunities are intentionally created for students to connect with their fellow students, their faculty members, and their advisors. Research clearly demonstrates the higher the level of student engagement with an institution, the higher the likelihood of their learning more, networking more, and ultimately graduating. Therefore, NACADA follows the same model: our association continues to focus on learning, networking, and success of all members, who connect with NACADA in many different ways.
As always, I look forward to seeing many of you at one of our Winter Events, Region Conferences, or Summer Institutes in 2014!
Charlie Nutt, Executive Director NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising (785) 532-5717 cnutt@ksu.edu
(Above: Contacts are made at the Leadership Dinner during the 2013 Annual Conference.)
