P1: New Professionals Job Search Bootcamp
noon-3 p.m. | Cost: FREE
Wayne Adams | George Mason University
Justin Williams | American University
Are you less than a year from finishing your graduate school program or new to the profession? Are you getting ready to enter the job market? Do you want to learn more about how to navigate the nuances associated with a job search? Then our new professionals job search boot camp is for you! Come to this FREE pre-conference session and learn more about how to prepare for your impending job search. We will offer self-assessments, critique your cover letter and resume, conduct mock interviews, and explore other factors to help you conduct a successful job search. Be sure to bring your resume and cover letter!
P2: Take a Gamble on the Mid-Level Practitioner: Redefining the Profession
noon-3 p.m. | Cost: $70
Gavin Farber | The College of New Jersey
Brandon Bellamy | Howard Community College
Bob Bullard | Rowan University
Deborah Coburn | Georgetown University
Francesca Pugh-Opher | University of Pennsylvania
Keith Schweiger | Temple University
Kathie Sindt | Johns Hopkins University
Claude Taylor | Monmouth University
Julie Traxler | Rutgers University
In higher education, mid-level practitioners face challenges that affect them both personally and professionally. Some advisors seek advancement to the top, while others are happy in their roles as “helping professionals”. When promotions are unavailable to this group, it can be difficult to find appreciation in their jobs. In reality, when a vertical path is unavailable at an institution, it could be horizontal movements that afford the best opportunities for aiding in professional development. Join the conversation to learn how you can forge a rich, rewarding career independent of the conventional “climbing the ladder” approach and can engage in your own #HorizontalBranding on and off campus. Join us in this three hour pre-conference session that will include (1) review of the topic, (2) networking with fellow mid-level advisors (3) panel discussion from industry leaders and (4) career success planning to overcome your struggles and conquer your doubts!
P3: Building Relationships through Authentic Online Advising
1-3 p.m. | Cost: $50
Tim Cox | Lafayette College
Laszlo Korossy | University of Maryland Baltimore County
In 2020, many institutions were forced to reimagine what
academic advising looks like in terms of practice, policy, and mode of
offerings. For some institutions, it was their first time using online meeting
platforms as a method to interact with students. We are now three years
“post-COVID” and advising, along with many other human-centered professions, is
still in a state of upheaval. Many institutions have sought to return to
in-person modes of advising, believing that in-person academic advising can lead
to the most effective interactions between advisors and advisees and that other
modes strain their ability to connect. Other institutions, weathering the
effects of the “great resignation” and facing mounting pressure to offer
greater flexibility and remote work options, have found the hoped-for
transition back to the “old normal” challenging. They offer more possibilities
for virtual advising, but as a reluctant compromise, a next-best option born of
necessity. Results from two campus-wide surveys, one targeting students and one
targeting advisors, conducted at a mid-size state university in 2022 and 2023,
found that both students and faculty rated their level of satisfaction with
virtual academic advising as comparable or better than in-person advising. How
is this possible? This preconference session will discuss authentic online
advising through the intersubjective-relative advising approach which resources
advisors’ identities, instead of constraining them allowing them to develop
more authentic, empathetic, and humanistic advising relationships. By the end
of the session, participants will gain a better understanding of how their
identities and physical/virtual environments can influence the advising
relationship. Participants will also learn how to navigate the pitfalls of
authentic online advising through hypothetical scenarios.