Jennifer Joslin, NACADA President
What a year it has been for NACADA and academic advising! In this, our 36th year as a professional organization, NACADA was “Near You” to provide 10 Regional Conferences; two Summer Institutes; a Research Symposium; the Assessment, Persistence, and Administrators’ Institutes; the NACADA/NCAA Seminar; nine Web Events; two editions of the NACADA Journal; and countless articles and features via Academic Advising Today, the NACADA Clearinghouse of Academic Advising Resources, NACADA list-servs, and the NACADA Blog. NACADA was widely available to provide important and effective professional development opportunities.
At these events and sites, and through these important initiatives, members discovered more than up-to-date information and valuable best practices. NACADA members connected with colleagues to make a difference for each student that passed through their offices and departments. If there is a lesson I take away from my year as President of this terrific organization, it is that our work in advising focuses on so much more than completing items on our to-do lists or getting our inboxes down to zero. The relationships and skills that we build as we network, connect, share, teach, and learn from one another enrich our profession and students’ lives.“We are responsible to the individuals we advise… we are responsible to our institutions… we are responsible to our educational community…” – these precepts from the NACADA Core Values stress the importance of developing effective and professional relationships. These words reverberate through the work we are doing in NACADA from the Board of Directors to the daily work of members around the world.
This year, 2012, NACADA honors two very important relationships we have established. One commitment is celebrating its fifth year of existence and the other is over 22 years old. Both relationships have transformative capabilities to ensure the success of NACADA for years to come.
With this year’s Annual Conference, we celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Emerging Leaders Program (ELP). ELP was developed by forward-thinking leaders such as Leading Light award winner Skip Crownhart, and a team of Diversity Committee members determined to grow the next generation of NACADA’s leaders. Over 100 Mentors and Leaders have participated in this outstanding diversity effort since 2007.
This year we celebrate and say farewell to a 22-year relationship with Dean Michael Holen of the College of Education at Kansas State University. In 1990, Dean Holen and NACADA formed a partnership to bring the NACADA Executive Office to K-State under the proud sponsorship of the College of Education. It is impossible to overstate the importance of Dean Holen’s leadership and vision to NACADA’s growth and financial stability. Dean Holen’s retirement has led the Board of Directors to extend our “Memorandum of Understanding” with K-State to cement NACADA’s ties to that institution and name the NACADA Pacesetter award in honor of Dean Holen’s outstanding leadership. The Michael C. Holen Pacesetter Award acknowledges critical central administrators whose leadership and vision exemplifies a commitment to academic advising.
Clearly, this has been a productive year. With the close of my term as President, I want to say “thank you” for the opportunity to serve NACADA and its members in this capacity. It has been a wonderful year; one which is sure to be the highlight of my professional career. Thank you, Josh Smith, for being a terrific Vice President! Thank you to the talented Board of Directors, NACADA Council, and all leaders throughout the Divisions. And thank you to Executive Director Charlie Nutt and the entire Executive Office team! Your hard work and dedication are inspiring. The strength of this Association is the tireless efforts from our volunteers combined with the ways in which the NACADA Executive Office complements our volunteers to further the cause of advising around the world.
As we look toward the future, I know NACADA will continue to thrive under the leadership of President Josh Smith and Vice President Joanne Damminger as well as Executive Director Charlie Nutt. I know they will move NACADA forward and that each of you will be actively involved in the work of the Association!
Jennifer Joslin, President, 2011-2012 NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising Director, Office of Academic Advising, University of Oregon jjoslin@uoregon.edu Cite this article using APA style as: Joslin, J. (2012, September). From the president: It’s not just the tasks, it’s the relationships. Academic Advising Today, 35(3). Retrieved from [insert url here]
