1. Tell us a little about yourself.
I am in my second year working
as an advisor at (and a proud alumnus of) Mansfield University – a small,
public, liberal arts based university in rural north-central PA. As part of my
responsibilities at Mansfield University, I am the Coordinator of the Athletic
Mentoring and CHAMPS/Life Skills programs, both of which work to enhance the
academic experience of student-athletes through quality advising and
programming. In addition to that, I advise many students in the general
population who are undeclared, liberal studies majors, or
probationary/readmitted.
2. What is your experience in
academic advising, higher education, and NACADA?
As a student in the field of
education at Mansfield University, I was introduced to academic advising by
working as a graduate assistant in our campus Academic Advising Center. My
interest in advising developed here and inspired me to investigate further by
writing my master’s thesis in the area of college student retention in 2009.
A little more than two years ago
(during the spring of 2012), I began my advising career by working as an
advisor to undeclared and probationary students at MU on a temporary basis.
This experience allowed me to fully engage in reading past NACADA publications
and immerse myself in seeking to learn as much as I could about best practices
in advising. The following fall semester, I was permanently hired at Mansfield
in my current position.
My first-hand involvement in
NACADA began with attendance to the Eastern PA Drive in Conference at Temple
University, Ambler in the fall of 2012. During the summer of 2013, I completed
the online course Academic Success and Student-Athletes (presented by
NACADA and the NCAA) and began my official NACADA membership. Then in the
October of 2013, I attended that NACADA Annual Conference in Salt Lake City,
Utah. All of my experiences with NACADA have been wonderful, and have
encouraged me to present at the upcoming NACADA Region 2 Conference this
spring.
3. Tell us about your session.
What can attendees look forward to?
I am very excited about my
session titled Engaging Students Who Have Deficient Grades at Mid-Term: A
Simple Approach to Academic Improvement Plans at the Region 2 Conference in
March! Anyone who attends this session can look forward to learning about a
practical method for meeting the needs of a large number of students who have
poor grades at mid-term and for assessing the utility and success of the
method.
Though I work with
student-athletes, the Game Plan method that will be discussed, in my
opinion, is very applicable to many other student populations. In fact, the
instrument that I use (and will have available to attendees) was developed by
the coordinator of our campus summer bridge program for use with that
non-athlete student population.
4. What do you hope attendees gain
from going to your presentation?
Quite simply, as someone who was
new to NACADA in the very recent past, I found presentations and publications
on simple and practical methods for advising to be most useful. I hope to help
attendees leave with something they can apply in advising at their institutions
right away.
5. What do you hope to personally
gain from presenting in Lancaster?
Part of my professional
development plan is to begin to contribute to the field of advising on a
regular basis. I believe that continued scholarship with NACADA will provide a
vehicle for becoming the best advisor that I possibly can. I hope that this
presentation will help to give me the confidence and feedback necessary to
continue in this process and enjoy a successful career in this field.
Thanks Chris! We hope your first Regional Conference experience is a great one!
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