Kep’s Corner

by Glenn Kepic

The 33rd Annual NACADA Conference was held in San Antonio from September 30 - October 3. Over 2,500 advisors from around the world attended, including 21 advisors from the University of Florida and 75 international members. The Association announced its new tag line that replaces “National Academic Advising Association” with “The Global Community for Academic Advising.” Seven members of the UF advising community were recognized at the event: Erica Byrnes, Emerging Leaders Program Graduate; Mutlu Citim-Kepic, Chair of Advising Fine Arts Students; Jeff Citty, Outstanding Advisor Certificate of Merit; Glenn Kepic, Incoming Board of Directors Member and Emerging Leader Mentor; Albert Matheny, Outgoing Professional Development Committee Chair; Lynn O’Sickey, Finance Committee Member (past Chair); and Ella Tabares, Emerging Leaders Program 2009-2011. (In photo, from L to R: Erica Byrnes, Jeff Citty, Albert Matheny, and Glenn Kepic.)

I encourage you to consider attending a regional or national NACADA conference in the future, or at least becoming a NACADA member. UF has 34 current NACADA members this year, down from 43 last year. To put this number in perspective, UT Austin boasts 117 current members, while Arizona State has 75, Purdue 74, and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has 62. NACADA conferences provide a tremendous opportunity to network with other advising professionals, learn what is working at other institutions, and share your ideas with others. The 2010 Region 4 Conference will be held on March 21-23 at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

The 4th Annual Advising Workshop took place on September 11, 2009 and attracted over 70 participants. The day began with Keynote speaker Doug Waddell from Florida State University, and Provost Joe Glover and Associate Provost Bernard Mair spoke during lunch. The rest of the day was filled with informative sessions presented by the Registrar’s Office, Financial Aid, the International Center, and several colleges. (In photo, from L to R: Grad Assistants Maritza Torme, Stephanie Wintling, and Brittany Ross.)

The Academic Advising Center hosted a Webinar on September 17th entitled “The Role of Academic Advising in Student Persistence” which is part of NACADA’s “Reaching and Retaining Students” series. Participants gained valuable insights and ideas to be applied to our own advising practices here on campus. (In photo, Robin Snyder and Jim Leary from Ag & Bio Engineering.)

The next professional development opportunity will be a brown bag lunch held one afternoon in November. The moderators for this discussion will be Deb Mayhew and Karen Bray from the College of Engineering. More information about this will be sent out soon. (In photo, new CALS Advisor Robin Ezzell.)