Kep’s Korner

by Glenn Kepic

It seems that as soon as fall drop/add ends, I always begin thinking about the NACADA Annual Conference!  I know several of you will be heading to Denver for the conference and I look forward to seeing you there.  For those of you unable to attend, you can follow much of the action on the NACADA blog site. 

With NACADA on our minds, I thought it would be nice to share a couple of “feel good” articles about advising.  First, please read past NACADA President, Jayne Drake’s piece on The Role of Academic Advising in Student Retention and Persistence from the July/August issue of About Campus.  Next, take a look at this fun advising blog from Richard W. Lariviere, President of the University of Oregon.

Switching gears a bit, I am wondering if any of you are interested in contributing to the growing field of academic advising research?  If so, have you considered applying for the NACADA Academic AdvisingResearch Support Grant?  According to the grant application information, “NACADA research support is intended to facilitate research related to academic advising. Quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methodologies are welcome, as is research from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. Successful proposals will clearly describe the development, implementation, analysis, and reporting of rigorous inquiry that investigates academic advising’s impact, context, or theoretical basis.”  The deadline for first round consideration is November 1, 2011.

Stay tuned for a full report on this year’s NACADA annual conference, which is less than a week away!