Region 10 Newsletter Updates
State Meeting Fall 2011
Greetings. It’s been a while since we’ve talked about COWY, and I apologize. With the national NACADA conference in Denver (hope everyone was able to attend), COWY seemed to be on the back burner. But now, with the 2012 Region X conference dates set and the national conference behind us, it’s time to move forward. I’m including not only committee members, but others who have also expressed interest in being involved with COWY.
I’ve revisited with a couple of committee members our discussion about having a one-day, theme-focused workshop, instead of the typical conference format with multiple concurrent sessions. I would like to see if the committee is still in favor of such a proposal. If so, then we need to create a planning committee and start the planning process.
So, is there a time in November we can connect (central meeting/call-ins) to try and move forward? Specifically, it would be great to:
- choose a date for the COWY workshop (I’m thinking early to mid-April as Region X is Feb 29-March 2)
- create a conference planning committee (at least a chair)
- decide on the theme(s) (some possibilities: (a) underrepresentation; (b) faculty advising; (c) advisor training, including faculty) and structure of the workshops
- location: Nancy West has an idea for a place in Longmont; we also discussed having multiple locations and teleconferencing to maximize participation (e.g., a Wyoming location, Western Slope, southern Colorado, and Denver metro area)
- Creating a COWY non-profit: Nancy has been trying to resolve the issue of a bank account as we can’t use national NACADA’s umbrella; do we need to create our own non-profit, which would then allow for a more permanent “home?”; I’ve also asked Patty Pedersen what other Region X state affiliates have done to address this issue
- Other agenda items? Any other thoughts?
So, please let me know dates and times that might work, and if anyone wants to host. Have a great weekend, and hope to hear from you soon!
Jeff
Jeff Schweinfest
Academic Advisor
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
University of Colorado Denver
1200 Larimer Street, North Classroom 4002
Denver, CO 80217
ph: 303-556-5922 fax: 303-556-6277
[email protected]
January 2011
The Conference Committee for the Region X Conference in Albuquerque February 28- March 2 is excited to have you attend.Over the holiday, I had the opportunity to meet with Josie Gibson, one of the co-chairs, to tour the Sheraton Albuquerque Uptown Hotel where the conference will be held. It is beautifully remodeled, has a Starbucks in the lobby next to four public computers, there are several alcoves in the lounge area for small groups to get together to network, and it is within walking distance of two shopping malls and a variety of restaurants. There are other motels close by, too. The hotel provides a van to take you anywhere within a two mile radius, so you don’t have to walk.
Timeline for the Conference:
The scholarship application must be in byJanuary 27
To take advantage of the early registration discount, make your registration for the conference byFebruary 4
To take advantage of the discounted room rate, make reservations for your hotel room at the Sheraton byFebruary 8
There are over 40 workshops to choose from; you will come away from the conference with renewed enthusiasm, new ideas, and new networking acquaintances. We are looking forward to meeting you all at the Region X Conference in less than two months!
Below are experiences from previous conference attendees that may give you information to use to convince your supervisor to allow you to attend.
OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND IN NACADA - Wyoming
By: Chrissy Renfro, Director of Advising and Career Services, Laramie County Community College
Imagine winning the lottery twice in one year. I and my colleague, Eirin Grimes, felt that way last year when NACADA not only accepted our presentation for the national conference, but then asked us to write an article on the presentation for NACADA’s Academic Advising Today! Many of you may recall that we presented at last spring’s region 10 conference on the use of mindfulness in advising, and this is the topic that we were invited to both speak and write about.
For those of you who have never presented at a national conference, I can tell you that it was both very intimidating and exciting. Intimidating, because you feel like you are in a sense competing with some of the best in our business (not to mention we were placed in a room the size of Shea Stadium), but exciting because you are given so much support, encouragement, and positive feedback throughout the process. I remember expressing my nervousness to Marsha Miller, assistant director of NACADA, and she gave us a warm pep talk.
Eirin and I were approached at the national conference about writing the article for Academic Advising Today, and we immediately accepted. Shortly after the conference Leigh Cunningham, the managing editor of Academic Advising Today, emailed us and helped us start the process. We sent her a draft, and after a few back-and-forths with edits, we will go to press for the March edition! This is just another example of how NACADA supports advisors and provides so many avenues for the sharing of information.
The NACADA Region 10 Conference- Joanne Theobald – Casper, Wyoming,
Being able to attend the Region 10 Conference in March really jumpstarted our new advising program for exploring students. I requested to attend because after having been a counselor in the Casper College Counseling and Student Development Center for the past 6 years, this summer I will become a full time academic advisor. Although I have served as one of the general education advisors within my counseling role, I am excited to make exploring students my priority and create an advising program which will be housed in a new Career and Advising Center in fall 2011.
I received so many new ideas at the conference, and was very impressed with the quality of the sessions- I felt they were very comparable to the sessions I attended at last year’s national NACADA conference. The session I attended at Region 10 that was most helpful immediately was Assessment and Advising: Where do I Start? Since returning I’ve modified one of the assessment tools from the NACADA website and we plan to administer it to our students this April during Advising Day. The results from this survey will be utilized as a baseline as well as a needs assessment from which to build our new program.
Perhaps just as valuable to me was the opportunity to network with other advisors, particularly those from my state. Because I attended the Region 10 conference, I feel I now have a whole new support system as I begin to build the program. I am so grateful to NACADA for the scholarship I received, which enabled me to attend the Region 10 conference!
2010 NACADA Region 10 Travel Scholarship - Sara Engelder, Graduate Student
University of Arizona
By attending the NACADA annual conference in Orlando, Florida, October 3-6, 2008, I have gleaned many ideas that will be useful to me as a future academic advisor. As I am a graduate student and not yet an advisor, the ideas I gathered can be used to help myself gain experience and find a job. However, I also feel that I learned about several ideas that can be implemented on campus as well, as I am involved with the advising resource center here at the University of Arizona. I presented these ideas to the University Professional Advising Council (UPAC) meeting this Wednesday and I think the ideas were well-received.
The ideas I will implement as a graduate student in the immediate future are: create a curriculum vitae (currently I only have a resume, which also needs to be updated), generate a list of interview points from the conference notes and materials, and write an internship outline that I can use to gain academic advising experience in the Spring 2011 semester. I will begin by logging all of my academic advising accomplishments and ways I have sought to improve my knowledge of and experience in advising. Using some of these ideas, I will create an overall resume of everything I have done which can be shortened appropriate for future job applications. I will also use the examples provided by the presenters to create this resume and a curriculum vitae. By reviewing the notes and materials I gathered from the NACADA conference, I will summarize what I have learned to help guide my talking points and questions for future interviews, job-shadowing, and internships. A session I attended provided an action plan that I can follow to improve my advising, and this should also help me outline my goals for an academic advising internship. One of the former NACADA chairs made a strong case for the need for advising internships for graduate students; I will use her argument points to make the case for my own internship and I will potentially apply for a summer internship that already exists at Penn State.
Through my attendance of the NACADA annual conference, I have learned a lot that I will immediately begin implementing to improve advising not only for myself but also for the academic advisors on the University of Arizona campus. I was thrilled to be granted this opportunity and I feel I have gained a lot of insight, knowledge, and tips that can be used to improve academic advising practice. I look forward to attending NACADA in the future and, if I obtain an advising job, I look forward to being an active member of this organization.
2010 Annual NACADA Conference – Chris Cavazos, New Mexico
I would like to begin by thanking NACADA Region 10 for allowing me the opportunity to attend the national conference in Orlando, FL. The travel scholarship made it possible for my institution, Central New Mexico Community College (CNM), to send me as a representative to the conference. I was able to network and share experiences in academic advising with advisors from across the nation. The conference was filled with information on best practices and innovative ideas going on around the country. I was able to bring back some ideas that I hope to implement here at CNM.
I attended the session titled, “Share Advising Resources Using a SharePoint Site.” I have been maintaining the CNM Academic Advisement and Career Development (AACD) site for our department. The idea behind our SharePoint site is that all of CNM’s program information will be kept organized and up to date on the site. One of the struggles we have had is getting advisors to take advantage of the information put on SharePoint. Because advisors are not required to use SharePoint for any reason, they continue to use other resources to get the information they are looking for, rather than using our SharePoint site which houses all the information. The idea I took away from the session is to slowly implement SharePoint by making it a site they would have to regularly visit. University of Texas-Brownsville implemented their department calendar to SharePoint, which required advisors to log into their site daily. After doing so, UT-Brownsville slowly began to implement other aspects of SharePoint, until advisor were taking full advantage of the site, and used it regularly.
Another idea I would like to implement at CNM is putting together a staff retreat to strengthen communication lines and build community within AACD. Although this would take the support of our director, I believe our department would benefit from a retreat. There have been several changes in our department in the last 6 months, and many advisors are feeling that our department is unstable. Having close to 25 advisors spread over 5 campuses, can be challenging in building a sense of community amongst all advisors. The sense of community is important because communication is important to giving students quality information when they come in to our offices. In the session, “Advisors Deserve the Fast Pass Treatment: The Staff Retreat Worth the Price of an 'E-Ticket,” Sue Sanders presented many great ideas for staff retreats.
I highlighted two of the ideas taken away from the conference; however, there were many great sessions full of information and ideas. I learned of innovative ideas on how schools are using technology, such as YouTube, Podcasts, and Blogs, to reach students. There were also sessions discussing how schools are handling the large influx of students due the struggling economy. Many schools have to do more with fewer advisors.
Again, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Region 10 for the scholarship and giving me the opportunity to attend my first national conference. I look forward to being an active member of NACADA in the years to come.
NACADA Region 10 Travel Scholarship
By attending the NACADA annual conference in Orlando, Florida, October 3-6, 2008, I have gleaned many ideas that will be useful to me as a future academic advisor. As I am a graduate student and not yet an advisor, the ideas I gathered can be used to help myself gain experience and find a job. However, I also feel that I learned about several ideas that can be implemented on campus as well, as I am involved with the advising resource center here at the University of Arizona. I presented these ideas to the University Professional Advising Council (UPAC) meeting this Wednesday and I think the ideas were well-received.
The ideas I will implement as a graduate student in the immediate future are: create a curriculum vitae (currently I only have a resume, which also needs to be updated), generate a list of interview points from the conference notes and materials, and write an internship outline that I can use to gain academic advising experience in the Spring 2011 semester. I will begin by logging all of my academic advising accomplishments and ways I have sought to improve my knowledge of and experience in advising. Using some of these ideas, I will create an overall resume of everything I have done which can be shortened appropriate for future job applications. I will also use the examples provided by the presenters to create this resume and a curriculum vitae. By reviewing the notes and materials I gathered from the NACADA conference, I will summarize what I have learned to help guide my talking points and questions for future interviews, job-shadowing, and internships. A session I attended provided an action plan that I can follow to improve my advising, and this should also help me outline my goals for an academic advising internship. One of the former NACADA chairs made a strong case for the need for advising internships for graduate students; I will use her argument points to make the case for my own internship and I will potentially apply for a summer internship that already exits at Penn State.
Through my attendance of the NACADA annual conference, I have learned a lot that I will immediately begin implementing to improve advising not only for myself but also for the academic advisors on the University of Arizona campus. I was thrilled to be granted this opportunity and I feel I have gained a lot of insight, knowledge, and tips that can be used to improve academic advising practice. I look forward to attending NACADA in the future and, if I obtain an advising job, I look forward to being an active member of this organization
November 2009
Awards program, report of region news & articles from 2009 Annual Conference scholarship winners!
June 2009
Great
Articles from 2009 Scholarship Winners!
Fall 2009
Scholarship winners share experiences at Annual conference in San Antonio!
2008 Colorado/Wyoming
Advising Conference 2008
The
2008 CO/WY Academic Advising Conference was a huge success.
We had close to 160 people attend, which was a record
setter. A majority of higher ed learning institutions
were well represented and served to strike a balance with
the variety of issues present in the advising field and
also with professionals working in academic advising.
We had a total of 24 presentations, which focused on the
role of advising in student retention. Such a platform
provided an opportunity to exchange ideas, develop new
knowledge, broaden perspectives, and to network with other
advising professionals. Our keynote speaker Geri
Anderson, Provost for the Colorado Community College
System, set the tone with her motivational, humorous and
energetic keynote address. Everyone involved learned something
of value and will be able to make a positive contribution
to the overarching goal of improving student retention
and student success.
2007New
Mexico Academic Advising Association 2007 State Conference
The
NMAAA State Conference was held at the Montoya Campus
of Central New Mexico Community College in Albuquerque
on November 1 and 2, 2007. The theme of the confernce
was Roadmap to Success: Navigating the Major Highways.
About 100 advisors participated in the two-day event featuring
a keynote address by Dr. Katharine W. Winograd, President
of CNM; a plenary session by Dr. Reed Dasenbrock, Cabinet
Secretary of the New Mexico Department of Higher Education;
and 10 concurrent sessions. Elections for officers were
held. Eric-Christopher Garcia of CNM was elected President
of the Association.