Jennifer Bloom, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL

Past Involvement in NACADA:

Years in NACADA: 16 years

National Offices Held and Accomplishments Achieved While in Office:

• Chair, Member Career Services Committee (2003-present) — re-established this committee, which is designed to meet the career development needs of advisors and advising administrators.
• Chair, Advising Graduate and Professional Students Commission (2001-2003) — represented this commission on the NACADA Board of Directors (2001-2002).

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

• Upcoming Keynote Speaker at Region 3 Conference in April 2005
• Presented at NACADA Region V Conferences.

Committee Activities and Accomplishments:

• Member, NACADA Awards Committee (2002-2004)
• Member, NACADA Professional Development Committee (2001-2003)
• Chair, Member Career Services Task Force (2002-2003)

Commission/Interest Group Activities and Accomplishments:

• Current member, Advising Graduate & Professional Students Commission (~1995 - present) and Advisor Training & Development Commission
• Current Member, Health Professions Advising Interest Group (~1995 - present) and Theory & Philosophy of Advising Interest Group

Other:

• Member, Illinois Academic Advising Committee (ILLIAC) (1990-present)
• Advisory Board Member, NACADA Advising Administrators' Institute (2001-2003)
• Faculty, NACADA Summer Institute in Chicago (2003)
• Member, NACADA Advisor Certification Task Force (2002)
• NACADA Scholarship Winner (1994)
• Have taught a graduate-level class on Academic Advising at the University of Illinois and the University of Louisville.
• Numerous presentations at national and regional NACADA conferences

Platform Statement:

I believe that the work that academic advisors do is vitally important and if elected to represent you on the Board of Directors, I will work tirelessly to advance the field of academic advising and to represent the needs of all advisors and advising administrators to the leadership of NACADA. In my career to date I have worked as a front-line professional advisor for undergraduate students, an advising administrator for graduate and professional students and a graduate faculty advisor for Higher Education Administration Master's degree students. My broad array of experiences have uniquely positioned me to not only understand the issues facing our diverse membership, but have also given me the experience to work together with the NACADA leadership to address the unique needs of professional advisors, faculty advisors, and advising administrators.

If elected, I am committed to continuing to work to advance NACADA's professional development plan and to collaborating with other NACADA leaders to ensure that a concise definition of academic advising is developed that can be used by our membership to champion the field of academic advising on each of our campuses. I look forward to this opportunity to give back to an organization that has been so important to my own professional and personal development.