Since our last Annual Conference in Baltimore in October 2007, NACADA has had an awesome year! Our Association has continued to grow in its membership, its influence in higher education internationally, and in the variety of new and innovative professional development opportunities for you. Here are just a few of the key advancements made this year...
[Read the rest of this article...]
It is my honor and pleasure to serve as NACADA’s President this coming year as the Association celebrates its 30th Anniversary...I look forward to my term as President this year while our Association pays particular attention to a number of critical and exciting areas.
I want to take this opportunity to outline for you the goals for enhanced use of technology...
Academic advisors have always helped with a variety of student issues; however, as budget cuts are considered, it may become even more important that we be aware of the wide variety of knowledge and assistance we, as academic advisors, provide on a day-to-day basis.
The NACADA Board of Directors and Council convened in San Antonio March 21-22 for our mid-year business meetings. I thought it would be appropriate to use this column to give my fellow NACADA members an update on two of the more timely topics the Board and Council are addressing at this time.
Students walk into our lives as they enter the academy in search of their academic goals and career aspirations. With our help, they shape an academic plan that sets them on a course that changes them inevitably—once and for all—for good.
NACADA and the role of academic advising in the lives of students have definitely grown together in the past 30 years in a very symbiotic manner. NACADA has had a direct impact on higher education’s understanding of the value of academic advising in student persistence and success, and the recognition of academic advising as both a profession and an integral component of student success initiatives has had a direct impact on NACADA’s growth in membership and influence in higher education.
We hope that all NACADA members will think of themselves as diamonds in a vast backyard—a world-wide network of advising professionals. You are the change makers both on your own campuses and among your students. We urge you to inspire and be inspired.
As we continue to deal with decreased funding and increased student numbers, the issue of student success grows more important to our administrators, our students, and our public constituencies. Because student success is so often measured by retention and persistence to graduation, it is essential that advisors and advising administrators continue to grow in our knowledge, talents, and skills through continuing professional development.
Advisors play a powerful role in higher education today because they stand at the nexus between the students who often enter the academy unformed and undefined and those who leave with identities and life direction shaped by a convergence of influences marked by positive interactions with faculty members and professional advisors.
Due to a myriad of reasons, higher education across the world is at a pivotal place in history; but no reason is as important as the increasing focus on Student Success! Academic advising is key to this success.
There is a tradition among NACADA presidents to use the September issue of Academic Advising Today to wrap up their year as president by casting a long look back—a kind of year in review—and sometimes by peering as far as the eye can see into the future...
I am always on an emotional high after our Annual Conference, but this year I am even more so. It was exciting to open our conference with good news...
For advisors spring is a time to re-energize and enhance our advising skills so we are better prepared to help our advisees succeed. A great re-energizing step is attending NACADA Regional Conferences where we can meet advising colleagues from across our regions.
Spring is finally here and with it comes a multitude of NACADA events and resources that not only support the student success, retention, and persistence efforts at campuses across the globe, but also provide all academic advisors with the professional development and skills needed to increase the success of students.
For NACADA, this has definitely been a busy and exciting time... Many exciting ventures are in the works, and I look forward to sharing the outcomes of those efforts in future publications and at the Annual Conference in Denver this October.
In just a few short weeks, NACADA members from across the globe will gather for our Annual Conference held this year in Denver. It is an exciting time for the Association each year as we share best practices in the field of academic advising and student success, hear results of the latest research and its implications for the field, and network with old friends and new colleagues...
March is the midway point of my year as President of NACADA and as with all checkpoints it's a good time to take stock of projects, tasks, and the inevitable to-do lists that are part of any meaningful endeavor.
Emerging Leaders Program Advisory Board Chair Sandy Waters (Old Dominion University) is pleased to announce the 2012-2014 NACADA Emerging Leaders and Mentors.
NACADA President Joshua Smith discusses his theme of “Professionalism” in the field of academic advising and the responsibility of each of us to champion the role of academic advising as central to student development and learning in higher education.
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.
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.
A candid conversation with Charlie Nutt, who joined the Executive Office of the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) in 2002 and has served as the association's Executive Director since 2007. This article originally appeared in K-State College of Education Connections magazine.
In August 2017, the field of academic advising lost a champion with the passing of recent NACADA Journal co-editor Leigh S. Shaffer. Leigh, a recognized scholar in his field of social psychology, authored or co-authored 11 peer-reviewed articles for the NACADA Journal, more than any other author in the Journal’s history.