Note: The following message was e-mailed to commission members on September 1, 2004.

To: Small Colleges and Universities Commission Members
From: Maura Reynolds, Chair

Maybe your week has been like mine--pre-college workshops, orientation, meetings with parents and new-to-college students, schedule changes, preparing to teach, hectic days and evenings!

I look forward to re-charging my batteries at the NACADA Conference in Cincinnati, October 6-9. Each time I attend, I'm reinvigorated by stimulating presentations and connecting with others from small colleges and universities whose job descriptions are something like mine.

This year, a number of sessions have been "tracked" as "small college" (at the presenter's request). Both quantity and quality are impressive— www.nacada.ksu.edu/nationalconf/2004/tracks/smallcolleges.htm

As I look through the program, however, I see lots more being presented by small(er) college colleagues--who requested that their sessions be "tracked" in some other way (assessment or faculty or technology or retention or liberal arts or first year advising or....). This list is by no means all-inclusive, but the topics seem to be right up the small-college-and-university alley. I suspect that if I'd spent more time with the conference program I would have found even more.

• It's Not Just the Underprepared Students Who Need Special Attention--Robbins, Cornell University
• It's All About You: Developing Effective Campus Collaboration--Ward, California Lutheran University
• Bridging Student and Academic Affairs: A Holistic Approach to Supporting and Advising High Achieving Students--Brown and Powell, Miami University
• The Nuts and Bolts of Group Advising--Schrock and Wilson, Clark Community College
• Academic Probation: Bridging the Chasm for Student Success--Bruce, Lynchburg College
• From Access to Achievement: Enhancing the Retention and Achievement of African-American Students in Higher Education--Stanley and Tesfai, Saint Mary's College, and Brown, Tom Brown & Associates
• Strengths-Based Advising and Academic Success Training--Anderson, Azusa Pacific University and Noel, Clemson University
• Helping Students Transfer: A Conversation among Two-and Four-Year College Advisors--Stamper-Carr and Price, St. Louis Community College-Meramec
• Peer Power: Developing and Improving Peer Mentoring and Advising Programs--Normyle and Bruce, Lynchburg College
• An Innovative Model for Effective Professional Development of Faculty Advisors--Champardé, Lansing Community College; Stockwell, Fox Valley Technical College; Hurt, California Poly University-Pomona; and Koring, Lynchburg College
• Developmental Faculty Advising: Constructing a Meaningful Program of Assessment, Training and Reward for Faculty Advisors--McGillin, Wheaton College
• Parents and Advisors: Ever the Two Shall Meet?--Mossack, Lipscomb University
• RITA: An Intervention for First-year Students on Probation or Academic Warning--Rhine, Wittenberg University
• Reinforcement: A Foundation for Student Retention--Bradley, Baylor University

Intrigued? Check out the conference web site for details about how to register at www.nacada.ksu.edu/NationalConf/2004/index.htm.

When I attended the first time, I knew not a soul--but people were wonderfully friendly and helpful. The small colleges/universities group typically meets for dinner during the conference. This year our commission meeting is on the first full day of the conference--October 7 from 8:45-9:45 a.m.--so we should be able to connect with each other easily. Kudos to the conference planners who accommodated our requests for an early meeting time--our commission meeting is scheduled in the very first meeting slot. As part of the commission meeting, we'll recognize Marti Hemwall (Lawrence University) for her outstanding contributions to this group with our first Service to the Commission Award.

Hope to see you in Cincinnati.

Maura Reynolds
Chair, Small Colleges and Universities Commission

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Maura M. Reynolds
Director of Academic Advising and Associate Professor of Latin
Hope College, 141 East 12th St, PO Box 9000, Holland MI 49422-9000
e-mail: MReynolds@Hope.edu, phone: 616.395.7760, FAX: 616.395.7680