Jennifer Joslin, NACADA President
March is the midway point of my year as President of NACADA and as with all checkpoints it's a good time to take stock of projects, tasks, and the inevitable to-do lists that are part of any meaningful endeavor. This edition of AAT will provide plenty of evidence that talented NACADA colleagues have worked tirelessly to bring innovative projects to fruition, and there are exciting initiatives underway that will have a long-term effect on NACADA’s future. In April, the Board of Directors and Council will meet in Nashville to hear updates from committees and task forces and will also learn about the 2011-2012 initiatives brought forward by the Commission and Interest Group, Region, and Administrative Divisions.
But professional development isn’t just for committees. U.S. advisors are in the home stretch of their academic year. This marker provides a good personal reflection point. How would individual advisors and administrators answer questions about the year-to-date? What projects are coming to fruition? Are advisors meeting short and long-term goals that will ensure a terrific personal and professional year? Are faculty on-track with writing and publishing that will further promotion / tenure goals? Have advising administrators effectively balanced emergent (and emergency!) issues and long-term project planning?
Fortunately, the barometer of a successful year does not revolve around work alone. I frequently turn to the Internet to tackle project management issues (see http://delicious.com/stacks/view/T4QJ3K) and there is a trend emerging from the “get things done” movement. I am referring to the “live better” or “voluntary simplicity” trend that is growing in popularity. “Zen Habits” (zenhabits.net) is probably the most well known site representing this movement. Wonderfully, this trend is mirrored in NACADA as well. For many years, advisors have focused on wellness issues. Most recently, Washington State University’s Lisa Laughter’s presentation, Journey to Wellness, was “Best of Region 8” in 2011, and Cecilia Olivares (Heartland Community College) and Sandy Waters (Old Dominion University) have organized extremely popular presentations at the last two annual conferences focusing on “work-life balance.”
Whether the focus is professional and/or personal growth, the midpoint of the year is a time to reflect, plan, and rejuvenate. And for those who are ready to end this year and begin anew, our colleagues in Australia and in other regions of the Southern hemisphere have finished their summer break and are about to begin a new academic year…!!
Jennifer Joslin, President NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising Director, Office of Academic Advising, University of Oregon jjoslin@uoregon.edu
Cite this article using APA style as: Joslin, J. (2012, March). From the president: Checkpoints, milestones, and markers. Academic Advising Today, 35(1). Retrieved from [insert url here]
