Betsy McCalla-Wriggins, NACADA President 

Dear Colleagues,

This is always a bittersweet time of year for me... the leaves on the buttonwood tree in our back yard are already turning brown and falling on the yard. The last lilies have bloomed and there is nothing else planted that I can pick and bring into the house for a fresh bouquet. Summer will soon be a distant memory... yet the fall always brings with it the excitement of new beginnings.

New beginnings take many forms. On campus, we see that excitement in the faces of our students...

• the freshman who is beginning a new adventure in both living and learning,
• the junior who returns to campus with a renewed focus after a stimulating summer internship,
• the dismissed sophomore who demonstrates in summer school that academic success really is a possibility and is so grateful to be given a second chance,
• the senior that describes contacts made in a summer job that offer possibilities of that “perfect job” after graduation.

At NACADA, we are also excited about a new beginning. At the conclusion of the fall conference in Salt Lake City, our association will be operating under the new organizational structure you as members approved last year. Serving on the new Board of Directors with me will be Ruth Darling, Buddy Ramos, Elaine Borrelli, Wes Habley, Jo Anne Huber, Nancy Lapp, Alan Welch, Eric White, and Roberta Flaherty. Our focus will be long range and strategic planning while the Council and Divisions will focus on direct service to our members and more operational issues. The Executive Office staff will also assume more responsibility as they continue to be the wonderful people who transform ideas into realities.

We also want to support you as you consider your own “new beginnings”... Whether you are new or experienced, full-time or faculty advisor, administrator or Dean, we want to provide you with opportunities to get recharged and to rekindle some excitement in your professional life.

Two specific activities you may want to consider and start planning for early this academic year are the new Advising Administrators’ Institute and the Summer Institute on Academic Advising. The Advising Administrators’ Institute is designed for those needing additional information on how to administer an advising initiative and is scheduled for San Antonio, Texas on Feb. 12–14, 2003. We already have 25 people registered so don’t wait too late to sign up.

The 16th Summer Institute was held in Colorado Springs July 7–12, 2002, and we had a record 283 participants and faculty. This is the largest ever institute, and we even had additional people on the waiting list. So the Summer Institute Advisory Board is exploring various options so that we can accommodate this demand. As those decisions are made, we will announce it in the NACADA monthly update. Start now to consider bringing a team from your campus to next year’s event.

As you consider where you are and what your professional development needs are, I hope you will share your ideas. If you have a need, I know that there are many others within NACADA that have that same need. Together we can make a difference. We are limited only by our ideas. I have lots of those, as I am sure you do as well... please let me know what they are.

And, don’t forget... plan some exciting new beginnings for yourself this fall.

Betsy McCalla-Wriggins
President

Cite this article using APA style as: McCalla-Wriggins, B. (2002, September). From the president. Academic Advising Today, 25(3). [insert url here]