I've never forgotten a meaningful NACADA keynote from a 2005 Region 6 Conference in South Dakota. The speaker was V. J. Smith, an administrator at South Dakota State University, and the theme was “being thankful.” The keynote was outstanding not only because Smith spoke brilliantly but also because of the message: acknowledge your blessings and give thanks. I remember returning to campus and writing my director,Pat Folsom, to express my thanks for her support of my attendance at the conference. The keynote reminded me that saying “thank you” is important. I thought of that keynote as I returned from the 2012 NACADA midyear Board and Council meetings. This year our meetings provided many opportunities to demonstrate appreciation and thankfulness.

The Board of Directors and the NACADA Council are grateful for the support that Kansas State University College of Education Dean Michael C. Holen has provided since first inviting NACADA to make its home at K-State in 1990. Our partnership with K-State has greatly benefitted both organizations and, not incidentally, resulted in the savings of millions of dollars that could be focused on growing the field of advising. With Dean Holen’s retirement, the Board was interested in honoring his legacy to advising and to NACADA and voted to make a $15,000 contribution to the Dean Michael C. Holen Legacy Fund at Kansas State University. In addition, the Board voted to rename one of our highest awards, the Pacesetter Award, in honor of Dean Holen. The Michael C. Holen Pacesetter Award will continue to recognize the work of upper-level administrators across the world for their support and enhancement of the academic advising experiences of students, and it will do so in permanent commemoration of one of NACADA’s most pivotal champions.

The midyear meetings also mark the announcement of some of the winners of the 2012 NACADA awards. It is our pleasure as an organization to congratulate and acknowledge 2012 Leading Light Award honoree Jane Jacobson (Iowa State University), Service to NACADA Award honoree Terry Musser (Pennsylvania State University), and Virginia N. Gordon honoree Jayne Drake (Temple University). We thank them sincerely for their lifelong devotion to student success and the field of advising.

I have come full circle in this column to saying thank you to my friend, mentor, and fellow Board member,  Pat Folsom (University of Iowa). Pat has decided to retire in early September 2012 and unfortunately will have to resign from her role on the Board (a position which must be held by someone working at a higher education institution). Pat is the author of one of NACADA’s best-selling monographs, The Guidebook for New Advisors: Mastering the Art of Academic Advising Through the First Year & Beyond (Monograph #16), and the recent author of “Space Design and Redesign,” one of the best articles on designing an advising center that exists in the field (in Academic Advising Administration: Essential Knowledge and Skills for the 21st Century, Monograph #22). The Board accepted Pat’s resignation with regret and with thanks for her years of service to NACADA. We wish her well in retirement!

With Pat’s resignation, the Board voted to offer Nathan Vickers (University of Texas at Austin) a seat on the Board to fill the remaining two years of Pat’s term. Nathan has provided outstanding service to NACADA as Administrative Division Representative to the Council, is the former Chair of the Emerging Leaders Program, and co-founded the New Advising Professionals Interest Group.  Welcome Nathan and thank you for your service to NACADA!

I know that Charlie Nutt has written (in his column) to acknowledge the outstanding conference chairs and committee members and region chairs for their extraordinary work this spring! I want to add special thanks on behalf of the Board to the conference chairs. You were all terrific hosts! We are fortunate to work with you and the many hundreds of NACADA volunteers who are committed to student success and the field of NACADA!

Jennifer Joslin, President
NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising
Director, Office of Academic Advising, University of Oregon
[email protected]

Cite this article using APA style as: Joslin, J. (2012, June). From the president: Being thankful. Academic Advising Today, 35(2). Retrieved from [insert url here]