Kathy Stockwell, NACADA President

As my year as President comes to an end, I am still honored and humbled by the opportunity to serve our Association in this capacity. This has definitely been the highlight of my professional career. I want to thank Vice President Glenn Kepic, the Board of Directors, the Council, the staff in the Executive Office and all division leaders for the leadership they have provided. My goal for this year was to keep the organization moving forward for the benefit of all in our global higher education family; the NACADA leadership team along with you, our members, have helped accomplish this goal.

This has been an exciting and productive year for NACADA; a few of the year’s highlights include:

• Two webcast series, Academic Advising for Student Retention and Persistence andFoundations of Academic Advising, which were a huge success. I am pleased to announce that NACADA is switching to a new web platform for the upcomingAdvisorConnect series. Adobe© Connect™ is an interactive platform that allows participants to see presenters and be involved “live” in the discussion. We hope that all members will give this new webcast platform a try!
• Our winter events—Utilizing Research and Data to Increase Student Persistence and Retention Seminar, the 9th Annual Academic Advising Administrators’ Institute, and the 7th Annual Assessment of Academic Advising Institute—all received rave reviews from participants.
• As reported previously, all 10 Regional Conferences were highly successful. Planning already is under way for next year’s conferences, so check out the dates on the NACADA website. We should mark our calendars now so we don’t miss out on these great conferences!
• Colorado Springs and New Orleans were the sites for this year’s sessions of the 25th Annual NACADA Academic Advising Summer Institute. This “boot camp” for academic advisors attracted a large number of advising teams from around the globe who spent a week preparing action plans for implementation on their campuses. Those interested in networking with advising colleagues from around the world while being immersed in academic advising will find this is a great event. Watch the NACADA website for the dates and locations of next year’s Summer Institute sessions.
• Three hundred members were published this year in one of our offerings (the NACADA Journal, Academic Advising Today, the NACADA Clearinghouse of Academic Advising Resources, or one of our new monographs). Those interested in submitting an article about their completed advising research or a best practice on campus should contact Marsha Miller ([email protected]) at the Executive Office; she is happy to help potential authors get started.

The NACADA Board of Directors continues to focus on the following initiatives as we strive to fulfill our strategic goals:

• Continue to address the needs of higher education globally. The Association is making an impact globally. President-elect Jennifer Joslin spent a week in Australia at the invitation of the University of Melbourne. While there, she visited with the provosts and advising officials and presented a one-day advising workshop for campus advisors. Past-president Jayne Drakespent a week in Hong Kong assisting advisors as they transition to an “advising as teaching” model. Executive Director Charlie Nutt was invited to the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands to conduct an advising workshop (see article below). In addition, the globalization subgroup continues to address the webpage recommendations of our global members and is working on a global glossary of academic advising terms. The Membership Committee continues its work on developing a guidebook for international allied associations, and the Council is assessing how our current regional structure can best meet the needs of international members. 
• Assess the technology needs of the Association. As reported previously, the use of social media has taken hold within the Association. During the Summer Institutes, pictures and updates were posted daily on Facebook© and Twitter™, and several faculty members and participants blogged about their experience. The website review committee is hard at work examining the functionality of our site. Committee members are reviewing contents, navigation, and presentation; a full report will be presented to the Board in October.
• Educate university and college decision makers about the role of quality academic advising in higher education. The committee charged with investigating the best and most efficient ways to make connections with institutional decision makers drafted a survey that could be distributed to campus administrators. Board of Directors members piloted the survey by visiting upper level administrators on their campuses to learn their perspectives on advising and to share information about NACADA. Results for the pilot survey will be shared with the Board in October, and a plan for the future use of this tool will be discussed.
• Ensure the effectiveness of the Association. The annual assessment of the Board, Council, and Executive Office was conducted in June. Results will be shared with leadership during the annual meeting in Denver.

In my welcome speech in Orlando, I invited all members to stand up and join me as an advocate for student success and academic advising on all campuses in our global higher education family. I hope each of us will continue this effort under the leadership of incoming President Jennifer Joslin and Vice President Joshua Smith.

Again, it has been an honor to serve as president of the world’s premier organization for academic advising and student success. Thank you for providing me with the opportunity to give back to the Association that has helped me so much throughout the years. Good luck to all members as we begin the fall term. I hope to meet many of you in Denver.

Kathy Stockwell, President
NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising
Fox Valley Technical College
[email protected]