Greetings! I hope this has been a happy spring for each of you! As I have traveled to Regional Conferences, I have been reminded how special NACADA members are, and I deeply appreciate your enthusiasm, professionalism and dedication to our mission of providing quality academic advising for our students and to our Association.

The NACADA Leadership sessions held at each Regional Conference proved to be inspiring for those of us who conducted them and well-received by those recently elected to office, as well as those contemplating such a move. Member involvement in discussions at these Conferences on NACADA's statement on the “concept of academic advising” has also proven fruitful. The Task Force working on this project is reviewing the input received at the Conferences and will soon meet one more time to finalize their work to send to the Board of Directors for final approval.

The Council and the Board at the midyear meetings in Indianapolis in April gave preliminary approval to the Diversity Committee's proposal for an Emerging Leader program for our Association. We finally have a well-defined plan to ensure diversity at all levels of NACADA. Hearty thanks to Skip Crownhart and her committee for providing us with such a comprehensive plan.

Our membership continues to grow – 9145 to date! In an effort to continue to provide the best service possible to our members, the Council and the Board participated in a strategic planning process in Indianapolis, facilitated by Marilyn Bedford from IUPUI, Office of Human Resources. The two leadership groups worked together to identify the top three initiatives to develop as a current plan for our Association. Providing vision and direction is the primary focus of the Board of Directors, with the strong support of the Council members, who represent the grassroots membership, which is our true strength. As subcommittees comprised of both groups work on specific strategies to accomplish the main goals, updates will be provided to our members.

Best wishes for a successful spring and happy summer! I hope to see many of you at one of two Summer Institutes this summer and in Indianapolis, October 18-21, for another top-notch National Conference.

Best regards,

Jo Anne Huber, President
National Academic Advising Association
[email protected]

Cite this article using APA style as: Huber, J. (2006, June). From the president: NACADA springs forward. Academic Advising Today, 29(2). Retrieved from [insert url here]