1. Tell us a little about yourself.
Recently married to my lovely, princess bride, Kathleen. We share 3 children (2 girls and a boy –grands, too) and a wonderful rescue named Ali. I’ve been blessed to live in the four corners of the US and travel the four corners of the world. I earned a Masters in Education from The George Washington University in Washington D.C. and completed my undergraduate work in Systems Engineering at the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY. I m currently working on a Ph.D. in Administration and Leadership at IUP. I am also working on a SIYLI certification. I am very interested in the combination of emotional intelligence and mindfulness practices. These practices have the possibility to make the world a better place. I plan to study how mindfulness practices impact college students attitude toward studying for his dissertation.
2. What is your experience in academic advising, higher education, and NACADA?
I have worked in higher education for 13 years. I began at the University of Pittsburgh at Titusville as an adjunct professor teaching computer courses. I later worked as an advisor and retention coordinator. I was fortunate to work on Semester at Sea in the Spring of 2005. I have also been fortunate to lead a number of study abroad service learning trips to Tanzania, and Nicaragua. I began working at Clarion University in 2007. We had an initiative to combine the retention efforts of student and academic affairs in the Transitions Office. I later directed the Act 101 EOP program at Clarion. Following that I served as the Director of the University Advising Services Center for Clarion. I currently work as the Academic Counselor for Upward Bound.
3. Tell us about your session. What can attendees look forward to?
In my session we will practice mindfulness skills. Mindfulness is the ability to BE in the present moment, non-judgmentally. Mindfulness is akin to meditation. Mindfulness skills help people learn to cope with the variety of negative stress we face as advisors.
We will connect mindfulness skills and emotional intelligence to improve our ability to LISTEN/HEAR/UNDERSTAND and be present with our students.
We will practice some kindness to ourselves.
Mindfulness is often used in schools today to address the social and emotional needs of students. It is a topic that is receiving significant attention.
4. What do you hope attendees gain from going to your presentation?
A chance to breathe. Peace & happiness that they can share with others.
Strategies to improve their communication skills.
5. What do you hope to personally gain from presenting in Lancaster?
I was fortunate to share this presentation in Salt Lake at the 2013 NACADA Annual Conference and it was there that I realized that our colleagues can really benefit from these practices. I am blessed to be able to share what I’m learning about mindfulness and emotional intelligence and I benefit by sharing this knowledge. I hope to learn more from my colleagues about advising and how to practically incorporate these ideas in every advising session. I hope to learn how to share these practices with more colleagues.
Some of the responses I received from Salt Lake -
I really enjoyed this and will be utilizing a lot of these practices in my job and with coworkers and past colleagues.
Thank you for the materials and resources. Excellent examples and activities. Very powerful. Definitely something valuable for all advisors and students.
It was very emotionally powerful and I wasn't quite prepared for that.
Interesting stuff Joseph! We look forward to hearing more next month!
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