Charlie Nutt, NACADA Executive Director
In just a few short weeks, NACADA members from across the globe will gather for our Annual Conference held this year in Denver. It is an exciting time for the Association each year as we share best practices in the field of academic advising and student success, hear results of the latest research and its implications for the field, and network with old friends and new colleagues. Each year the NACADA Annual Conference enlightens the profession and demonstrates the integral role that academic advising plays in the success of our students.
Annual Conference is also a time when the Association’s leadership meets to continue the outstanding work they do to ensure our vitality today and in the future. NACADA continues to grow and prosper for many reasons, but the main one is the strength, dedication, and hard work of our leaders as they work hand-in-hand with an extraordinary Executive Office staff. Their efforts provide NACADA members with the most cost effective professional development opportunities in higher education and the most comprehensive review of what works in the field of student success.
This year our Board of Directors, led by President Kathy Stockwell (Fox Valley Technical College), has taken major steps in planning for the future of NACADA by focusing on our technology needs and outreach, developing plans for connecting with chief administrators on behalf of the profession and our members, and furthering our outreach to the global community of academic advisors. It is very exciting working closely with our outstanding leaders as they ensure that NACADA will continue to be the premier association for student success.
In addition to the excellent work of our Board of Directors, Council leaders, led by Vice President Glenn Kepic (University of Florida), have worked to strengthen our Commission and Interest Group system, to include our global colleagues in our Region system, and to determine new strategies that will help our institutes, publications, and webcasts reach a broad spectrum of professionals. For example, the Webinar Advisory Board was focused this year on expanding the access and presentation of NACADA webinars and recordings. On September 14th, in-coming NACADA President Jennifer Joslin (University of Oregon) and Technology in Advising Commission Chair-Elect Laura Pasquini (University of North Texas) will present the first webinar from our new AdvisorConnect platform, Leading Forward: Technology Planning for Sustainable Advising.
Leaders in our regions, commissions and interest groups, committees, and advisory boards ensure that the quality of all NACADA events and resources is the highest possible. The Association’s structure provides members with the opportunity to be the “content experts” while the Executive Office staff implements the plans developed by our members. This continued partnership between our members and our Executive Office staff makes NACADA unique in the field of higher education as well as highly successful. I find it the greatest professional opportunity to work with you, our membership, and the Executive Office staff.
This year’s Annual Conference in Denver promises to be superb in no small measure due to the leadership of Conference Chair Dawn Fettig (University of Colorado) and the entire conference committee. Not only will “in person” connections and sessions be outstanding, but the technology “back channel” discussions and conversations on the NACADA Blog, Facebook©, Twitter™, and other social media outlets will add heighten excitement and energy to our conference. Both conference participants and those who cannot join us this year will actively connect. Thanks goes to Rhonda Baker and Michele Holaday in the Executive Office, Brad Popiolek (University of Texas at Austin), Laura Pasquini, and Jennifer Joslin for all their work in bringing NACADA into the world of technology!
I look forward to connecting with all of you in Denver! Please stop and say hello, find me on Facebook at Charlie Nutt, or tweet me @charlienutt. It will be wonderful to connect with all of you in Denver!
Charlie Nutt, Executive Director NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising (785) 532-5717 cnutt@ksu.edu
Cite this article using APA style as: Nutt, C. (2011, September). From the executive director: Prepare to connect in Denver and beyond. Academic Advising Today, 34(3). Retrieved from [insert url here]
