What a winter we all had, huh? Not only have we dealt with crushing financial cuts at many of our institutions, but also so many parts of the country dealt with one of the longest, coldest, and most severe winters in a long time. Our friends who hosted such a wonderful Region 6 conference in Fargo, North Dakota in May had just in April dealt with a devastating flood while at the same time a blizzard! Not being one to turn down a challenge, I visited the University of Wisconsin Superior and Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton, Wisconsin, in JANUARY!!! Not the smartest move, huh? While the hospitality I experienced was warm and inviting, the minus 32 degree temperature was not! I knew I was in trouble when my friends in Wisconsin were complaining about how cold it was -- made me feel less like the weather wimp I am!

But finally it appears spring is here for most of us and, thus, NACADA and the academic advising community has much to celebrate in the bright warm spring sunlight.

Research continues to demonstrate the integral role that academic advising plays in the engagement of students, the persistence of students, and the quality of the undergraduate and graduate educational experiences of our students.  One of the primary reasons that I feel this is true is that academic advising at its very best must be built upon strong collaborative partnerships across all segments of the campus – academic affairs, student affairs, enrollment management, and, of course, all administrative functions.  These partnerships are essential and even fostered because academic advising continues to involve those in student affairs roles as well as academic faculty. On some campuses academic advising is housed totally in student affairs and on others totally in academic affairs and in others it may be housed in both according to the unit or college at the university level. So often the question is posed: Is Academic Advising an Academic Affairs or Student Affairs function?

At the recent NACADA Region 1 conference held in Saratoga Springs, I had the pleasure of participating in a round table session chaired by Gail Stepina, Cindy Glidden, and Christine Sohl from New Hampshire titled "What Defines an Academic Advisor?" During the lively discussion among approximately 50 participants, the question changed to "How Do You Define Yourself As An Advisor?" What an intriguing question for us all!

In her now famous book, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton talked about the concept “It Takes a Village.” While this saying, of course, first referred to raising children and how our “villages” or “communities” are integral to the development of our children and the future roles in our society, Secretary Clinton discussed how in reality it takes a village for us to solve the global problems we are now facing. I feel it is easy to take her ideas and apply them to our work in higher education and state “It Takes Academic Advising Communities to Advise a Student and Affect Her Academic Success!”