This is an exciting time for NACADA and its membership. The Association counts on you to let us know how we can assist in enhancing your advising practice and meeting your goals... As an Association, we are navigating our charted course to maintain our focus on advising as a profession, the professional development of our membership, and effectively serving the needs of our diverse and worldwide members.
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As an association we have focused the past couple of years on leadership sustainability, diversity, and research. We have made strides with all three topics, but we still have a way to go, especially as we continue to grow more globally as an association…. I have challenged the Board and the Council to focus on engagement… But of most importance, I challenge all of you…
Being engaged in our profession means not simply gaining knowledge, but also finding ways to innovate and bring about new ideas.
What can I do in my work with the association that benefits others, creates positive not negative moments, and helps both my own health and the health of the association? … I challenge each you to join me in this path of self-reflection and on this guided pathway to being fully charged.
NACADA President David Spight challenges us to consider our perspective on change.
Nearly a year ago, as your president I challenged you to get engaged in your profession, to get engaged in your association, to become a scholar-practitioner, and to learn multiple approaches to advising. It seemed timely for us to consider why the four challenges I asked of you are a necessary part of how we strive for diversity and inclusivity.
Like many higher education institutions, NACADA is on a pivot, needing to change with advising trends, student populations, institutional initiatives, and events that impact our students and the profession.
Just as academic advisors understand the importance of partnerships with students, it is equally important that they continue to increase their partnerships with other advising professionals to expand their own networks.
NACADA leaders want to ensure that all members feel as though they matter within the association’s culture. Whether a new or continuing NACADA member, it is important that each member feels as though their contributions make this association what it is.
Regardless of what you are interested in, having a plan can make the journey more meaningful and productive. Knowing your goal, determining potential barriers, creating a plan to overcome barriers, and setting up support systems to succeed can all be part of your professional development plan. Plan for your future and let NACADA be part of that plan to help you get there.
I know NACADA is wholly committed to seeing those who may be more likely to be overlooked… As an association, we work to serve each and every one of our members, and therefore to support the success of all students in higher education… If nothing else, I wish for my NACADA presidency to be remembered for radical transparency and an ethic of care.
While it can be difficult to move past the things that need to be done now, the NACADA Executive Office and Board of Directors work assiduously to adapt and innovate—not only to better serve our current members, but also our future members.
In the amidst all of that is happening in our world, we still have great things occurring across our lives, our institutions, and NACADA.
If each of us are to succeed in our work, we must continue to recognize or create opportunities in the chaos. If we look at history, and any moment within that brought great challenges, we can always find those who rise above or even excel under the pressure.
President Cecilia Olivares ponders whether 2020 is the year that defines the start of the fourth era of academic advising and what that means for the association.
As Patrick O’Neill (2013) reminds us: “Pausing at the half allows us to reflect on the good work we have done, what we haven’t done, and what we must do to advance our personal and professional development.”
For each Academic Advising Today column I wrote as NACADA President, I spent time reviewing what the NACADA Presidents before me wrote at the same point in their presidencies. The themes are fairly consistent: transition, reflection, and appreciation
President Kyle Ross discusses NACADA’s new Vision, Mission, and Strategic Goals and looks at what is next for the association.
NACADA President Kyle Ross outlines pathways to involvement in the association.
As advisors begin another academic year, I find myself wondering where the time has gone between when I started my presidency last October and now. While the time has flown by, I acknowledge that the association has accomplished much in these 11 months.
For those members reading this, if you are considering getting more involved in NACADA, you will never regret that decision. NACADA and the profession need your ideas, enthusiasm, and commitment to student success now more than ever.
