As you think about your own situation and reflect on your daily activities, consider the students you see who are experiencing a new beginning, an ending, or some type of change. Many face all three at the same time….especially the new students and those getting ready to graduate. Even though many of these changes are positive and self-initiated, there is still very often some degree of anxiety. In your advising role you encourage, support and sometimes challenge which gives many students the courage to grow and develop in very exciting ways.
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The annual NACADA National Conference will be here soon and has the Executive Office buzzing. The National Conference was the first professional development activity offered by NACADA and remains as a firm foundation upon which to build new activities and resources to meet the needs of our members. NACADA has been fortunate to have consistently introduced successful new activities and resources based on informal feedback among the leadership and the members. To continue this success, however, it is important that we continue to hear from the members exactly how the organization can assist in continued professional development and enhancement of academic advising.
The first NACADA Task Force on Advisor Certification was established in 2001 to explore the feasibility of creating a “program to award certificates in academic advising to NACADA members.” That group recommended that certificates be awarded and standards leading to such certificates be established.
Some international students may also feel they are discriminated against because they may pose a security threat to the United States. Ultimately, advisors can intervene this fall to identify international students and assist them in adapting to a new environment and new security measures. Often an understanding voice or face can do more than we know in helping international students make the necessary adaptations as they study in the United States.
Is your job a source of stress in your life? Do you feel overworked and unappreciated? Do you feel irritable about minor things at work, or need a huge effort to complete the simplest tasks? Does it seem like you are always geared up, need to hurry up, catch up, or shut up? Are you fed up? If you answered yes to these questions, you could be the victim of too much stress.
Good assessment/evaluation can be expanded into good research. Good research should lead to even better assessment procedures. Good assessment makes use of the best conceptual and theoretical models and the best research measures or methods. With valid and reliable measures, campus-specific questions may have national implications. A phenomenon identified on your own campus may be the cutting edge for an issue of significant importance.
After every NACADA National Conference, I return to my campus with a true sense of belonging to a profession that has student learning and development as its core value. I am reassured that I associate with a diverse group of advising colleagues who approach their life's work with this point of view or perspective. I am also reassured that there is a professional association that has as its focus the promotion of academic advising within higher education along with the professional development of its members. These beliefs shape how I think about NACADA, my colleagues and my work.
CERTIFICATION - the much used word within NACADA these days and the most often confused. As the Association strives to bring greater professional recognition to advisors, it is exploring a number of ways to recognize the knowledge and skills that advisors attain and utilize in providing effective academic advising.
Training and development of advisors becomes ever more central to the effectiveness of the advising process with the increasing diversity and complexity of our students' environments. While there is no 'one-size-fits-all' method for advisor training and development, case studies are among the most useful items in the trainer's tool box.
Why do some students fail to succeed in college? What interventions are most successful with these students? There is great demand for research revolving around these questions. As chair of the Probation, Dismissal & Reinstatement (PDR) Issues Interest Group, I challenge you to approach your PDR students from a research perspective.
