The National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) is an international, educational association of academic advising professionals who are committed to advancing the field globally. The organization recognizes that effective academic advising is at the core of student success – and provides opportunities for professional development, networking, and leadership for its members. Each year, NACADA hosts an annual conference that attracts thousands of professionals to learn from each other and explore the latest trends, theories, research, and best-practices in the academic advising space. CAMD Academic Advising team members Alison Ottaviano, Director, and Helena Prezio, Assistant Director, were recently accepted to present at this fall’s conference.

Their presentation, entitled Carnivals! Crafts! Candy! Connections? Building Community and Identity through Developmental Advising, will explore how academic advisors can create bonds with students and move away from transactional interactions, while supporting and guiding the students towards self-advocacy and authorship. In today’s environment of updating systems, procedures, and high student caseloads, these developmental interactions can be challenging to prioritize – but, in our ever-changing world, are more important than ever. Alison and Helena will discuss ways in which an advising office can create reasonable expectations, bridge a fruitful and fulfilling advisor-student relationship and foster connections in fun and creative ways through activities at any funding level.

Alison and Helena will review Baxter Magolda’s “Theory of Self-Authorship,” which addresses “the internal capacity to define one’s beliefs, identity, and social relations,” and the relationship to Crookston’s “A Developmental View of Academic Advising as Teaching,” a classic article upon which many subsequent articles on the topic reflect. They will be presenting alongside other distinguished professionals in the academic advising field, and look forward to contributing to an enriching learning experience.

The NACADA annual conference is currently slated for October. In the meantime, follow the CAMD Academic Advising team on Instagram!