Michael McKay, University of North Texas, Denton, TX

Past Involvement in NACADA:

Years in NACADA: 14 years

National Offices Held and Accomplishments Achieved While in Office:

Regional Activities/Offices Held, including accomplishments achieved while in office:

• Member, State advising association (TEXAAN) conference committee — in charge of registration for the 1995 state conference. 

Committee/Task Force/Advisory Board Activities and Accomplishments:

Commission/Interest Group Activities and Accomplishments:

• Current member — Faculty Advising Commission, Technology in Advising Commission, Advisor Training and Development Commission, Advising Transfer Students Commission
• Previous member — Assessment of Advising Commission, Advising Administration Commission

Other:

• Within the last 5 years, I have
  • presented at the
    • NACADA national conference
    • University of North Texas (UNT) Community College Day conference twice
    • UNT's University Counselor Advisor Network (UCAN) advising conference
    • UNT's Advisor Retreat
    • North Texas Area Transfer Articulation Meeting
  • served as
    • chair of the UCAN Advising Assessment committee
    • chair of UNT Advisor Retreat committee
    • co-chair of the College of Arts and Sciences Council of Advisors at UNT
    • member of the UCAN Program Committee
    • member of the Associate Dean's Transfer and Articulation sub-committee at UNT
    • member of the Foundations of Excellence sub-committees on Structure and Transitions for first year students and programs at UNT

Platform Statement:

• Highlight your previous involvement within this unit that will help you in leading this unit. What roles have you played within this particular unit as a member thus far?  

In the past I have participated in the Region 7 meetings at the NACADA national conferences. I feel I have an understanding of where the region has been, from creating a strong regional conference, to encouraging the development of state advising associations, and the collaborative efforts between the state advising associations and region 7. I have only had the opportunity to assist where I can in the past, but I am ready to take on a leadership role that encourages collaborative efforts between not only the states/state advising associations in region 7, but the individual institutions represented in the region.

• What do you believe are the most important goals and initiatives for this unit in meeting the strategic plan for both the unit and the Association?

I believe the most important goal is for the unit to provide interaction and an opportunity for feedback to the Association while providing networking opportunities for the advisors in that region. It is very important that we continue to have a strong regional conference and encourage/strengthen state/institution association conferences in order to provide affordable close to home professional development opportunities for advisors. We must further the notion that advising is teaching by defining our roles at our institutions and encouraging the participation of students to help us define how we can best help them.

We need to provide more leadership opportunities for advisors to participate in and encourage them to take an active role in how advising is delivered on their campuses. I think it would also be great to raise some money and provide conference scholarships so that advisors or graduate students from institutions with limited resources may have some professional development opportunities.

• Why are you interested in serving in this leadership position or what influenced you to run for this leadership position? 

I am interested in serving in this leadership position because I would like to see increased participation at the region 7 conference and at the state association conferences. I would like assist with increasing the number of faculty advisors who are involved in NACADA. Several advisors who play leadership roles in advising at UNT suggested that I would do great job as chair of region 7 and encouraged me to accept their nomination. I am very interested in creating ongoing collaborations between schools within region 7 to address the needs of our students and in particular creating a smoother transition for students who are transferring from one institution to another within region 7. I believe we can break down the barriers that students face when they are in transition, weather it be freshman or transfer students.

• Provide any additional comments or information (either personal or leadership-related) that you want potential voters to know about you that is not covered elsewhere in your platform information. 

I currently serve as the Director of Transfer and Articulation for the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of North Texas. In this position I supervise advisors, play a leadership role on campus in advising, teach a career development course, work with area community colleges on transfer and articulation issues for students, help facilitate the faculty advising process for the College of Arts and Sciences at UNT, train new advisors (faculty and staff), play a leadership role in new student orientations, and I am responsible for the up keep of technology based advising tools for the College of Arts and Sciences.

The experience from my 14 years of academic advising, leadership roles on campus at UNT, and involvement in NACADA has prepared me to represent the advisors in region 7 as chair. If elected I hope to make the best region in NACADA even better.