Commission Chair Orientation Information
Congratulations
on your recent election to the NACADA Leadership!In your new role as Commission Chair, there is information on
our web site that will help you with your new responsibilities.
This information supplements (and perhaps duplicates) information
you may have already received from your Commission and Interest
Group (CIG) Division Representatives, the current Commission Chair,
or Executive Office staff.
Leadership
Handbooks
You
should review the resources below to become familiar with the
specific role and responsibilities of a Commission Chair.
Commission &
Interest Group Division Information
For
information on the organization of the CIG Division itself and
details on commissions in general and the responsibilities of
commission chairs, please review the leadership information at
the following links. The CIG Division Representatives and the
CIGD Executive Office Liaison together are responsible for facilitating
the work of this division and for carrying division concerns to
the NACADA Council for discussion and resolution.
For acomparison
of the similarities and differences between Commissions and Interest Groups,
please refer to the chart at www.nacada.ksu.edu/CandIGDivision/CIGDComparisonChart.htm .
Leadership Meetings
and Conference Activities
Both current and incoming (newly elected) Commission Chairs are expected
to attend the Fall Leadership meetings for the Commission and
Interest Group Division, held just prior to the annual conference.
Details about this meeting will be e-mailed to you in early summer
from the Executive Office.The General Leadership Handbookexplains
more about this meeting and those expenses for which you would
be reimbursed. Note the schedule of the leadership-related meetings.
Annual Conference
Activities for Commission Chairs:
Moderate
the Commission Annual Meeting- A meeting
time slot is provided for each commission and interest group
at the annual conference each year for members to meet to discuss
topics and critical issues regarding their respective constituencies.
These annual meetings are listed in the conference program to
promote member participation, and Commission and Interest Group
Chairs are responsible for conducting their respective meetings. Get
tips and ideas for facilitating successful annual meetings.
CIGD Fair - Commission Chairs are expected
to participate in the annual Commission and Interest Group Fair
held during the annual conference by hosting information tables
for their respective units and talking with members interested
in joining. If a Chair is unable to attend the CIG Fair, it
is his/her responsibility to arrange for another commission
member to participate and represent the unit.
Hot
Topics Sessions- Commission Chairs have
the opportunity to moderate a 'Hot Topics' session(or find a colleague to do so)scheduled on the last morning
of the conference. These sessions are optional, but encouraged,
to provide members another opportunity to discuss a critical
issue facing that particular commission. This opportunity coincides with the proposal submission schedule (December-February). Detailed information will be sent from the Executive Office in January.
- Distribution
of Certificates for Commission-Sponsored Sessions- Each
Commission Chair is responsible for distributing special certificates
to the presenters of the sessions selected as 'commission-sponsored'
by his/her respective commission. These certificates are given
to the Chairs at the CIG Division meeting held just prior to the
beginning of the conference.
Web Sites
Each
commission has its own home page on the NACADA web site. A link
to your commission's home web page can be found in the list
of commissions . Please note that these web pages are continually
in development. You are encouraged to review your commission's
web site and begin formulating ideas for information to be added
to these pages, especially for the 'News and Updates',
'Resources', and 'Goals
and Objectives' pages. Guidelines to help with the development of your commission's
web pages. You should also familiarize yourself with the entire
NACADA web site and how to navigate it.
Reports, Meeting
Minutes and E-mails
Both
theannual fall report(by July 31) andpost-conference report(by November 15) are required to be submitted by Commission Chairs. These reports
are excellent tools for goal setting, follow-up and documentation,
and are also very helpful for training purposes when commission
leadership changes occur. The reports are explained in more detail
in the Division Guidelines and are submitted for review by the
CIGD Division Representatives and Executive Office. Instructions
and a link to the report template are e-mailed to the Chairs several
weeks prior to the report submission deadline.
Note:
Current Commission Chairs are responsible for submitting theannual fall report(due July 31). Newly elected Commission
Chairs who take office at the end of the annual conference are
responsible for submitting thepost-conference report(due November 15), ideally after consulting with the outgoing Chair
during the annual conference.
Leadership reportssubmitted for your commission are
posted to your commission's web site at http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/CandIGDivision/CIGDReports.htm . Past reports are also
posted to the commission's web site. The outgoing Commission Chair
may also provide this information to you. Reviewing reports
and e-mails sent by chairs to their members that are posted on
other commission and interest group web pages may also provide you with some
helpful information and ideas.
Additional
information and ideas can be found by reviewing the minutes from
past CIG Division meetings and previous e-mails sent to the entire
CIG Division by the Division Reps and/or Executive Office liaison.
These reports and communications can be reviewed on the CIGD web
site at www.nacada.ksu.edu/CandIGDivision/CIGDMeetingMinutes.htm .
Another
suggestion would be to read past
issues of theAcademic Advising Todaye-publication ,
particularly those articles for your commission or by members
of your commission. Don't hesitate to e-mail and/or call the current
Commission Chair, Division Reps or Executive Office Liaison whenever
you have questions ( CIGD directory ).
Budget Requests
Budget requests for
projects and activities planned during the next year, including
funds for the Service to Commission Award, should be included
in Section 2 of the post-conference report submitted in November.
More information on these budget requests can be found at www.nacada.ksu.edu/CandIGDivision/CIGDBudgetGuidelines.htm . Supplemental
budget requests may be submitted later in the year if the
need arises.
Each Commission is allocated up to
$50 to purchase supplies for the commission table display at the
CIGD Fair held during the annual conference. These Fair funds
do not have to be requested by Chairs in their reports. Chairs
then submit receipts for reimbursement after the annual conference.
Communication
and Listservs
NACADA
primarily communicates electronically with its leadership. Commission
Chairs are added to special e-mail lists used only for members
of the NACADA Leadership called 'NACADALEADERS' and 'CIGDIVISION.' The
makeup of these lists is explained at www.nacada.ksu.edu/Leadership/Leadership-listserveDescriptions.htm .
After being added to each listserv, you will receive a 'welcome
message' that provides instructions for posting messages.
These listservs are periodically used to distribute leadership
information and to hold discussions and solicit ideas on various
leadership-related issues throughout the year. If not already
subscribed, Chairs are also added to their respective commission
listservs shortly after being elected. NOTE: The communications
sent via these leadership listservs are periodic and should
not overload your mailbox.
Electronic
communication is also used to communicate with members of the
various commissions and interest groups. Procedures are in place for sending bulk e-mail messages to all members of a particular
commission or interest group directly from the NACADA Executive
Office. The Executive Office is happy to help you in communicating
with your commission members when it is important to reach all
of them. A special e-mail list is used by our office into which
the e-mails for all current commission members are downloaded
each time a message is sent. The Chair provides the text for the
message to the Executive Office liaison and then the message is
sent it out under the chair's name.
A primary
reason for sending them from the Executive Office is so e-mail
bounce-backs that occur (due to incorrect or invalid e-mail addresses)
can be followed-up on to get the correct addresses and member
records can be updated. Secondly, since the membership changes
daily, the members in a particular commission or interest group
or their e-mail addresses may also be constantly changing. To
be confident that all current members are contacted, it is most
efficient for the message to be sent directly from the Executive
Office so the most up-to-date member e-mail addresses can be used
each time.
Commissions
and Interest Groups have their own individual listservs, which are excellent
tools for discussions among each unit's members on special topics
or areas of interest. However, only a small percentage of your
unit's members may be subscribed to its listserv. Thus, if you
want to send a message to all members of your group, having the
Executive Office send an email isthe only way to reach them all.
Examples of e-mail messages that should be sent to all commission members include requests for feedback on commission
issues and activities, requests for volunteers for commission
committees, and the solicitation of commission award nominations
or leadership nominations.
Association
Information
NACADA's by-laws,
an organizational chart, leadership directories, and a general
leadership handbook can be reviewed at:
Welcome
once again to the NACADA Leadership!You
may already be familiar with the information above, but we wanted
to be sure it was at your fingertips! Please contact us if you
have any questions at all. We look forward to working with you!
Jenifer Scheibler , NACADA Executive Office Liaison to the Commission
& Interest Group Division
CIG
Division Representatives