Charlie Nutt, NACADA Executive Director
What an exciting year it has been since last October in Minneapolis! Not only has our membership continued to grow with over 12,000 colleagues across the world, we continue to strengthen the connections NACADA makes with our members as well as the connections our members make with each other. Through our electronic Monthly Highlights, all of our members are kept up to date on events, resources, and opportunities that NACADA is providing at that time and in the future. As we strongly encourage our students to read those electronic updates we may send, we strongly encourage you to read the NACADA Highlights as it is a quick but thorough way to keep connected with the association and all we have to offer to our members because your membership is important to us. We know you are bombarded with unsolicited electronic messages from companies or individuals promising you and your colleagues the "MAGIC BULLET" or the ONE solution or strategy to improve academic advising and student persistence and completion to degree. NACADA, your association, respects your professionalism, expertise in the field and understanding of your students to know magic bullets don't exist or sustain significant impacts on the success of your students. Thus, our Monthly Highlights electronic publication provides you with timely information about the events and resources you need to work through the complex issues involving student success on your campuses. This spring was extraordinary for you and NACADA as we had record-breaking participation, with over 4,200 individuals attending our 10 Region conferences across North America as well as large numbers of academic advising professionals attending state, allied and institutional association conferences, workshops, and one-day "drive-in" meetings. These include our newest and first allied association outside North America, UKAT, formed in the United Kingdom and holding its first meeting at the University of Sheffield. However, even with the very large numbers, your Region chairs, Region conference chairs, and their armies of volunteers made sure each participant felt welcomed and valued as a NACADA member and hopefully as a presenter. In addition to providing the opportunity to participate in and learn from outstanding workshops and concurrent sessions, every conference focused on innovative and valuable opportunities for participants to network and learn from new and old friends and colleagues. This is the NACADA WAY! NACADA has always ensured that our association is focused on the highest quality learning experiences and scholarly inquiry. But, just as importantly, the association is focused on our members building strong networks of colleagues with whom we network and from whom we learn but also with whom we build close bonds and friendships that last throughout our careers and beyond. NACADA is built upon sustainable learning and networking and not one time events people may attend and participate in but don't build those important professional and personal connections that enhance the success of our students across the globe. But just as quality academic advising must be intentional, focused on pathways to success in higher education and life, and include collaborative experiences across all parts of our institutions, the NACADA WAY is created intentionally in order for our members, our students, and our institutions to become stronger and successful. While all NACADA leaders past and present have been and are focused on these intentional experiences, I am excited to inform you that our Membership Committee is working diligently to create the best experience for our new members and conference participants as they come into our association and build upon those experiences as they find their pathway to involvement with NACADA and their colleagues. And to continue that involvement, working with our Committee for Sustainable Leadership, we will provide intentional pathways and opportunities for leadership for all NACADA members, both new and experienced. The NACADA WAY isn't built around a person or a small group of leaders but instead is built upon our association and its growth and impact on student success, in order to intentionally ensure the future of NACADA and the new generation of academic advising professionals who will lead the association. Higher education today challenges us in ways we may never have predicted and expects more from all of us than ever before as we work with colleagues to increase the success of our students everywhere. NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising is here to support our members, our profession, and our students in these challenging times. Become an active participant in the NACADA WAY as we focus on the future and additional collaborations!
Charlie Nutt, Executive Director NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising (785) 532-5717 [email protected]
Cite this article using APA style as: Last, N. (2015, June). The NACADA Way: Strengthening the connections with our members. Academic Advising Today, 38(2). Retrieved from [insert url here]
