…as all good things do. The third day of the conference started off with an early planning meeting for the 2011 regional conference in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The date is TBA but we hope it’ll be mid or late April. When we know more, you’ll know more. For the U. S. citizens planning to attend, please remember two things: 1) You need a passport and it can take up to 12 weeks to get one. So, if you don’t have one, get on that soon. If you have one, check to make sure it hasn’t expired. 2) Canada gauges the temperature using Celsius. When asked what the temperature would likely be in Calgary around April, a Canadian member replied, “Oh, about 20 degrees.” The non-Canadians in the room were horrified for a split second before someone blurted out, “Oh, you mean in Celsius!” (By the way, 20 degrees Celsius, according to the online temperature converter, is 68 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s manageable. Then again, you never know with Mother Nature. This time last year, Seattle was still snowed in.)
After the planning meeting, attendees had a full morning of breakout sessions. Everyone reconvened again at the Awards Luncheon where the 2010 Region 8 award winners were recognized:
The luncheon also recognized the Region 8 members who received awards at the annual NACADA in conference in San Antonio last September/October. And, of course, the Best of Region was announced. The winner was chosen from the breakout sessions presented by Region 8 members (non-Region 8 presentees were not eligible for this award). All the conference attendees had a chance to vote.
The 2010 Best of Region 8 was awarded to Katie Schumm and Becca Schulze (pictured left with Region Chair Brett McFarlane) of the University of Oregon for their presentation, “Build Better Advising Relationships through Blogging.” Katie and Becca will receive a stipend to attend and present their presentation at the 2010 NACADA annual conference in October. We’re confident they’ll represent our region well. Congratulations Katie and Becca!
In closing, we provide an update on the Service Project. By the time lunch started, Region 8 members had donated about $500 to Treehouse, an agency that provides services to foster children in Seattle. By the time lunch ended, after the proverbial hat (actually a paper box cover) was passed around again, that amount was up to $900. We don’t have the exact figure yet; the Treehouse liaison has promised to send us the final figure and we’ll let you know when we have it. If you don’t know this, you should: Region 8 was the first NACADA region to initiate a service project in conjunction with the regional conference. The project benefits a local organization as a way for the region to give back to the host community. Other regions have since followed in our footsteps.
To close, a shout-out to Region Chair Brett McFarlane and the region steering committee, and Karen Sullivan-Vance and the conference planning committee. Thank you for a successful conference. To the Hyatt Olive @ 8, you were a classy host and we thank you as well. To the city of Seattle, thank you for your hospitality. Good night all.
Boy, it was a packed day. Overall impressions gleaned from hallway conversations is that folks attended some really good breakout sessions today. The scuttle on Twitter (hashtag: #NACADAR8) had good things to say about a few of them. (Which isn’t to say the ones that weren’t mentioned were bad. Just not tweeted about.) For those of you who’ve attended conferences before though, you know that sometimes the most important take-aways come from the hallway conversations. (Hey, take-aways are take-aways, no matter where they happen.)
Take-aways from the keynote by Jayson Jarmon: Of course we could report that “everything that can be digital, will be digital” but, since that was the title of his keynote, we guess that would be cheating. Technology (specifically the Internet) has come a long way in a relatively short period of time. While some of us are still grappling with the user-centric concept of Web 2.0, Web 3.0 is already looming on the horizon. It is our responsibility to accept, adapt and innovate. But don’t get distracted by the bells and whistles. At the end of the day, content is still king. Delivery methods can and will change.
So what does that mean for us in academic advising? Well, upon reflection, we can certainly see that from the technology side, we have increasing ways of controlling our connections to students. Email certainly changed the communications landscape some years back. Today, websites are not longer the tools of those who knew how to code HTML. With a much smaller learning curve than before, anyone who can format a Word document can now format a website page. The (often free) tools of instant communication abound: Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Wiki, Skype. Are we more connected to our students than ever before? Or less so? How has technology changed the advisor/advisee relationship?
News from the Region 8 business meeting. The 2011 and 2012 conference locations are set at Calgary and Oregon respectively. Tentatively, the region anticipates conferences in Alaska in 2013 and British Columbia in 2014. Other news: some positions on the region’s steering committee are becoming available. Watch for more information soon on the nomination and voting process.
Half day tomorrow and then we say goodbye to Seattle. We hope at this point (it’s almost midnight), today’s presenters are getting a well-earned rest, and that tomorrow’s presenters aren’t staying up all night to practice in their pajamas (insert obvious “Sleepless in Seattle” reference here).
Closing thoughts tomorrow.
The Northwest Region 8 conference got off to a good start today with a full packed day of pre-conference sessions and Day Two of the Technology Seminar. (Sorry we didn’t blog after the first day of the Technology Seminar; our heads were so full of technology ideas/issues/conversations/strategies, we needed time to decompress.) Many, many thanks to NACADA faculty Eric Stoller of Oregon State University for coordinating an ambitious and action-packed seminar. Overall response to the two-day were positive and enthusiastic. Throughout the seminar, Eric, his co-presenters and the seminar participants tweeted their reactions, thoughts and perceptions. If you haven’t been following along, they’ve been using the #NACADATech hashtag. (Speaking of hashtags, several folks are tweeting from this conference and using the #NACADAR8 hashtag. Join the conversation!) Thank you also to Kurt Xyst and the University of Washington for proving the seminar classroom space and facilities on Day One.
The “regular” part of the conference kicked off this evening with a chocolate dessert reception. It was fun to see “conference buddies” reconnecting and introducing their friends and colleagues to each other. Academic advising is such a “touch” profession and it’s at events like these that we get to make professional connections that sustain us in our day-t0-day work. We had to smile as we wandered around the room and caught snippets of conversations here and there. Folks were comparing advising structures at their respective institutions, presenters were sharing presentation tips with each other, technology conversations that started in the Tech Seminar were continuing, and “which session will you attend, which session will I attend negotiations” were being held. And, through it all, an overall consensus that the chocolate desserts were yummy.
We’re looking forward to tomorrow. To all who are presenting tomorrow, get to bed. To all who are attending, have a productive day.
Region 8, in partnership with the Washington Academic Advising Coalition (WAAC), is pleased to have Treehouse as our 2010 Service Project. Based in Seattle, Treehouse provides services for children in foster care that no other agency provides: money for extra-curricular activities and summer camp, professional educational support services, resources to fully participate in the everyday activities of growing up, and clothing and supplies to help them fit in at school.
A donation table will be located in the Third Floor Foyer, outside the Ballroom. Treehouse welcomes donations of clothes and school supplies for K-12-aged children. Download a School Supply Wish List to learn what school supplies are needed most. Attendees can also provide a monetary donation to sponsor the purchase of school pictures, sports fees, band participation, etc.:
We’re less than two weeks away from the big event. NACADA has posted the pre-conference sessions. They are a good deal at $25 a pop; they are a better deal if you purchase an all-access pass. You’ll get a chance to attend all four pre-conference sessions for $60!
Thank you to everyone who submitted a proposal and much kudos to the proposal committee for evaluating all the proposals so quickly. Accepted presenters have already been notified of their scheduled day/time. NACADA will post these on the main Region 8 site soon. If you’d like to download a sneak peak (in pdf form), here you go.
We’re pleased to have such a variety of topics. We’re also very happy to see presenters from varying school types and from varying parts of the region and country (we have a couple of presenters from outside our region, which is great!). What we’re not pleased about is that we have to choose only one breakout session to attend each hour. It’s 2010. Where are the flying cars and personal time machines they promised us?
If you are attending this conference with other colleagues from your institution, here’s our advice: Divide and conquer. Bring back as many ideas to your home campus as you can.
Seattle awaits…
If you’re planning to attend the 2010 regional conference in Seattle later this month, consider serving as a conference volunteer. You can donate as little or as much time as you can spare. Typical duties include passing out and collecting session evaluation forms or staffing the welcome/registration table. Locals may even serve as a human “tell me the best places to eat around here” source of information.
Interested? Contact Karen Gillespie at KGILLESP@uidaho.edu
Congratulations to the 2010 Region 8 Scholarship recipients. These members each received a scholarship to cover the conference registration fee.
Osvaldo Avila – Western Oregon University
Tonja Brown – Edmonds Community College
Alyssa Dart – Washington State University
Salena Hill – The University of Montana
Trinity Minahan – Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
Debbie Moos – University of Idaho
William Morrill – University of Oregon
Sarah Postel – Green River Community College
Becca Schulze – University of Oregon
Katie Schumm – University of Oregon
These scholarships are available to any current NACADA member. Be sure to apply for the Calgary 2011 scholarships!
Folks around the region are making plans for the upcoming conference in Seattle. We’ve been contacted by at least one advisor who’s looking for someone to share a hotel room with her (and split the cost, of course). Since one person asked, it was safe to assume others are thinking about the possibility as well. Let’s use this forum to connect potential roommates with each other.
Andrea Nelson from Western Oregon University would like to get the ball rolling on this. Please contact her (503-838-8428/nelsona@wou.edu) if you’re interested in a room share. If you’re looking to put yourself out there as well, post a comment to this thread. We’ll see if we can’t get some folks together for his cost-sharing connection.
This may be a good way to find potential carpool connections as well. Are you driving to Seattle? Is there room for a passenger? Let us know!
Region 8 members: You’ll receive an email from region chair Brett McFarlane soon. It going to be sent through the region email list. On it, you’ll learn we’ve extended our deadlines again. You have more time to submit your scholarship and awards program applications. Good news! We could all use more time, right? The new deadline for both these applications is December 7. The region leadership decided to extend the deadline to give you more time to get your applications in. These are great programs; we don’t want you to miss out on it.
All other recently posted deadlines are still valid: November 23rd for the Call for Proposals, December 24th for the early registration fee.
More information about the Technology Seminar is now posted online as well. This 1.5 day seminar will happen before conference (Jan. 24-25). Registration for the Technology Seminar can be made in conjunction with your conference registration, but space is limited to the first 30 registrants! Please note: This seminar is for advisors who identify as having an intermediate to advanced comfort level with technology. Participants will be expected to bring a Wi-Fi capable laptop.
NACADA has now posted the registration application form on the website. It’s a pdf you can download, fill out and submit (with your appropriate payment, of course) to the executive office. The pre-conference sessions are noted on the application:
- Advising and Retention ($25)
- Legal Issues with Technology ($25)
- Advisor’s Technology Tool Kit ($25)
- Advising as Teaching ($25)
- NACADA Leadership (FREE)
- NACADA Orientation (FREE)
You can register for as many pre-conference sessions you want to. Consider purchasing the All-Access Pass though. You’ll be able to attend all the pre-conference workshops for just $60. It’s a great deal! You can also register for the Technology Seminar ($75) that will be held prior to the conference (January 24-25).
Upcoming deadlines to keep in mind:
- November 16: Scholarship and Awards Programs
- November 23: Call for Proposals
- December 24: “Early registration” conference fees
