The issue of student retention and persistence has continued to grow in importance throughout the history of higher education in our country. Early studies (Astin, 1977) focused on the characteristics of those students who did not persist. Beginning in the 1970s, the research began to focus on the reasons students remained enrolled and how colleges and universities could make changes or develop programs to increase the retention of their students.
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Many institutions struggle to integrate accreditation criteria for assessment with their efforts to improve and enhance programs for their students. In this climate, the interest in and need for assessment of our students’ academic advising experiences has become a major issue on our campuses.
As our NACADA continues to grow, it is essential that each of us takes a personal responsibility for our Association’s focus on diversity in our membership and in our leadership, as outlined in our Board of Directors’ strategic goals for the Association. The Diversity Committee has implemented an exciting Emerging Leader Program that has identified the first class of nine future Leaders from underrepresented populations who are being mentored by nine NACADA Association leaders. The next class of Emerging Leaders and Mentors will be selected in May; I encourage you to both apply to be a Leader or Mentor and to nominate other members for Leader or Mentor positions. Our Association’s membership and leadership can grow in diversity only if each of us makes it our personal goal to become involved!
Since our last Annual Conference in Baltimore in October 2007, NACADA has had an awesome year! Our Association has continued to grow in its membership, its influence in higher education internationally, and in the variety of new and innovative professional development opportunities for you. Here are just a few of the key advancements made this year...
I want to take this opportunity to outline for you the goals for enhanced use of technology...
NACADA and the role of academic advising in the lives of students have definitely grown together in the past 30 years in a very symbiotic manner. NACADA has had a direct impact on higher education’s understanding of the value of academic advising in student persistence and success, and the recognition of academic advising as both a profession and an integral component of student success initiatives has had a direct impact on NACADA’s growth in membership and influence in higher education.
As we continue to deal with decreased funding and increased student numbers, the issue of student success grows more important to our administrators, our students, and our public constituencies. Because student success is so often measured by retention and persistence to graduation, it is essential that advisors and advising administrators continue to grow in our knowledge, talents, and skills through continuing professional development.
Due to a myriad of reasons, higher education across the world is at a pivotal place in history; but no reason is as important as the increasing focus on Student Success! Academic advising is key to this success.
I am always on an emotional high after our Annual Conference, but this year I am even more so. It was exciting to open our conference with good news...
Spring is finally here and with it comes a multitude of NACADA events and resources that not only support the student success, retention, and persistence efforts at campuses across the globe, but also provide all academic advisors with the professional development and skills needed to increase the success of students.
What a tremendous year 2013 has been for NACADA, our leaders, our Executive Office staff, and most importantly our members! This year will be remembered in many ways but especially for our membership growth; our continued expansion globally; our focus on membership retention and leadership development; the Board’s approval of a new vision, mission, and goals for the association’s work; and our vast technological advances making our members’ connection with NACADA electronically easier and more beneficial to them.
A candid conversation with Charlie Nutt, who joined the Executive Office of the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) in 2002 and has served as the association's Executive Director since 2007. This article originally appeared in K-State College of Education Connections magazine.
What an exciting year it has been! Not only has our membership continued to grow with over 12,000 colleagues across the world, we continue to strengthen the connections NACADA makes with our members as well as the connections our members make with each other.
The influence and impact that NACADA is having in higher education globally keeps expanding across North America and the World and, thus, we are reaching more professionals who see the value of a NACADA membership.
NACADA continues to change the field and the profession for the good in a multitude of ways…
What can I do in my work with the association that benefits others, creates positive not negative moments, and helps both my own health and the health of the association? … I challenge each you to join me in this path of self-reflection and on this guided pathway to being fully charged.
Just as higher education is complex, the work we do across campuses to increase student success is complex and cannot be done in isolation or in established silos. The NACADA Board of Directors and Executive Office is focusing this year on building an intentional plan to develop strong relationships with other higher education associations and groups who are actively focusing on student success.
It has been a busy but profitable year for our association. NACADA continues to grow in supporting our membership and also in our impact across all of higher education across the globe.
Each year, the impact of NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising grows on our members, the profession, institutions, and the globe. Clearly, NACADA is growing in our impact across the world that is directly connected to the work of thousands of members, leaders, and the partnership with the Executive Office Staff.
With the NACADA Winter Institutes and Seminar, the association elections, and the start of the Regional Conferences, NACADA in the Spring Time is always an exciting time. Spring 2018 is no exception with several other exciting NACADA developments occurring as well!
So much has been accomplished since this time last year! We continue to move NACADA into the future as the premier association for academic advising and student success and work to ensure that NACADA has a strong role in enhancing higher education and student success globally.
It is important that NACADA continues to grow in influence and involvement in higher education across the world in order for the future of the association to have impact across higher education for student success. This involves intentionally selected partnerships and collaborations with many institutions across the world as well as with other influential higher education associations and entities.
This year, NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising, celebrates its 40th Anniversary. Executive Director Charlie Nutt discusses some important themes that we are celebrating in our Past, our Present, and our Future.
2020 is an exciting year for NACADA as we celebrate our association’s 40th anniversary. NACADA has a rich history of enhancing student success and providing opportunities for networking and learning to a broad constituency of higher education professionals from all types of institutions across the globe. We continue to make a major impact not only on our members’ work, but also on institutions as they work to structure successful academic advising programs.
In just a few short months all of us have experienced changes in our personal and professional lives like we most likely have never experienced before. It is so important that especially in this time of uncertainty, we stay connected with our colleagues and we take advantage of all the professional development opportunities possible.
As The Global Community for Academic Advising, NACADA has supported academic advisors for 40 years by creating professional connections which often turn into personal friendships.
2020 is a year none of us across the globe will forget. Our personal lives have been changed in so many ways, and our professional lives in higher education have changed so much as well. Therefore, it is important that NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising continues to look toward the future and provides the highest quality professional development and outstanding opportunities to connect with each other.
