In an effort to provide conference attendees with the most inNODAvative experience possible, the planning committee is excited to offer extended educational opportunities as the annual conference draws closer and welcomes our membership to Boston — America’s College Town. This year, the conference committee is offering a blend of sessions that include a “best-practice” side-trip, an extended education session featuring our plenary speaker on working with presidents and senior administrators, and a wide array of pre- and mid-conference workshops facilitated by an impressive set of scholars and practitioners with extensive expertise in their area. Please take a moment to review the various offerings and learn about our talented presenters and consider enriching your conference experience that is designed to inspire!
Unless otherwise noted, these extended education sessions must have a minimum of eight participants registered by September 22, 2008.
This part-day workshop is scheduled from Noon – 3 p.m. with a $55 participation fee.
The Common Ground GPS Program is an innovative multi-departmental approach of connecting incoming students with Boston University and with the city of Boston. Guided by hand-held GPS units, small groups must navigate the city of Boston, solve riddles, and complete challenges as they discover the unique character of their new home and fellow students. The program is a collaboration of the Boston University’s Howard Thurman Center for Race, Culture, and Ethnicity, the Office of Orientation and Off-Campus Services, and the Sargent Center for Outdoor Education. This educational side trip, designed to illustrate an orientation “best-practice,” will allow participants to discover their Common Ground as well as “our fair city.”
This part-day workshop is scheduled from Noon – 3 p.m. with a $55 participation fee.
Join the NODA Transfer Services Network, as well as experts from the Institute for the Study of Transfer Students, for an engaging afternoon regarding transfer students. This workshop will include a keynote address by Dr. Bonita Jacobs (Vice President for Student Development at the University of North Texas), resource and research sharing and topical roundtable discussions. We hope you will go away energized and with new ideas for serving this important population.
Presenters:
Emily Bauer is currently the associate director of Orientation and Transition at San Jose State University, where she is working to create a mandatory transfer orientation program. She has been a Co-Chair of the NODA Transfer Services Network for two years and has been actively involved in Region I (at Oregon State University), Region VII (at Purdue University) and on the 2009 NODAC Planning Committee.
Sarah Wells is currently the coordinator of Summer Orientation and Fall Welcome Programs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is most interested in helping institutions create a transition process that is seamless for incoming transfer students. In addition to serving as the Transfer Services Network Co-Chair for two years, Sarah has also been involved at the regional level as a regional network representative and regional conference co-chair.
Bonita Jacobs has been vice president for Student Development and associate professor of Higher Education at the University of North Texas since 1998. She is the founder of the “Institute for the Study of Transfer Students” and a faculty member for the American College Personnel Association “Donna M. Bourassa Mid-Level Management Institute.” Her publications are extensive and include The College Transfer Student in America: The Forgotten Student and Starting From Scratch (a first-year experience textbook); chapters in Student Academic Services in Higher Education: A Comprehensive Handbook for the 21st Century, Designing Successful Transitions: A Guide for Orienting Students to College, The Orientation Planning Manual, and College Counseling: Issues and Strategies for a New Millennium; and numerous journal articles and reviews.
This full-day workshop is scheduled from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. with a $75 participation fee.
What unique challenges and opportunities are you presented with as a professional when you work at a highly selective institution of higher education? This pre-conference program is designed for orientation, transition and retention professionals from around the country to share information about programming for this specific niche. Topics will include, but are not limited to program delivery, student staff recruitment, selection and training, budgets, organizational structure.
Presenters:
Danielle Bristow has worked at Washington University in St. Louis as the director of Orientation and Parents Weekend Programs since February of 2006 and a member of NODA since 1998. She has served as a state coordinator, Region VI Board Member and is currently serving as the Region IV Coordinator and 2010 NODAC Co-Host. Danielle has presented at several regional and national conferences. In 2006 she and Marc Skjervem, from Northwestern, started a small off-shoot group at NODA that serves orientation, retention and transition professionals from highly selective institutions. This group has met at the past two NODAC conferences and maintains a list-serve that has over 40 members is widely utilized among this population. She worked previously at the University of Louisville.
Marcus Langford is the director of New Student Programs at Rhodes College. At Rhodes he is responsible for the overall vision and delivery of orientation programs, including Open Rhodes, the summer advising and orientation program, Welcome Week, and the Peer Assistant mentoring program for the first-year. In addition, he is responsible for Parent/Family Weekend and a member of the crisis response team where he works with students that may be in need of support due to academic or personal reasons. Prior to coming to Memphis, Tennessee Marcus worked at Oregon State University as a Coordinator with the Office of New Student Programs and Family Outreach. Marcus has been a member of NODA since 2001. In that time, he has presented both at annual and regional conferences as well as serving as a state coordinator and on the Board of Directors as an At-Large representative.
This full-day workshop is scheduled from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. with a $75 participation fee.
The National Orientation Directors Association is pleased to announce the establishment of the NODA Symposium for Mid-Level Managers. This educational symposium is designed for professionals in mid-level management positions in years 5-10 of their career in the fields of orientation, transition or retention programming at an institution of higher education.
The NODA Symposium for Mid-Level Managers will be unveiled at NODAC 2008 as a six-hour pre-conference workshop. Participants will establish a cohort with other mid-level managers, work in small peer groups with renowned faculty, address relevant case studies, and explore challenges and opportunities in higher education. Topics include:
If you have been in a mid-level orientation, transition, or retention management position in the 5-10 year range we hope you will join us for the inaugural NODA Symposium for Mid-Level Managers.
Presenters:
Diane M. Austin has been the Dean of Student Affairs at Lasell College in Newton, MA for thirteen years. In that capacity, she serves on the Senior Management Team of the College, and oversees the functional areas of: Athletics; Career Services; the Center for Spiritual Life; the Counseling Center; Health Services; Judicial Affairs; Residential Life; and Student Activities and Orientation. She has also served as the Associate Dean of Student Affairs/Director of New Student Programs at Bentley College, where she worked for eighteen years. While at Bentley, she designed and implemented all the orientation programs; hired and supervised the undergraduate Orientation Leader staff; and inaugurated, designed and implemented their Freshman Seminar course.
In her 35 years as a student development professional, she has made in excess of 125 professional presentations, including over 45 presentations at both national and regional conferences of the National Orientation Directors Association and the First-Year Experience. Diane's other NODA activities include serving as historian (1988-1996), national conference program chair (1990), vice-president (1984-86), national membership chair (1981-84), and a member of the NODA Board of Directors (1980-83). An area of particular interest to Diane is the separation process between college students and their parents, and she has written and done numerous presentations about this topic. She is the author of the chapter entitled, “The Role of Family Influence on Student Success” in the 2nd edition of Designing Successful Transitions: A Guide for Orienting Students to College; and of the chapter entitled, “Orientation Activities for the Families of New Students” in the 1st edition of the same publication.
Diane received both her B.A. in English (1973) and her M.S. in Counseling (1976) from SUNY Plattsburgh. She is an Overseer of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Board of Directors of the Plattsburgh State University Alumni Association.
Cindy Payne, Institute Coordinator, serves the division of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs at Northern Arizona University as Associate Director with oversight responsibilities for Undergraduate Admissions, Registrar, Financial Aid and New Student Programs. Her 19 year tenure at NAU includes 12 years in orientation, transition and retention programs as the founding director of the Office of Orientation, Transition and Retention Services. She designed and implemented the First Year Experience Academic Course at NAU which offered over 100 sections each year, and created the Office of NAU Parent Services. Cindy directs the training and development efforts for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs personnel as one of her responsibilities.
Cindy works with colleges, universities and associations across the country as a trainer and facilitator. She served as a facilitator for the LeaderShape Institute, as well as a faculty member for the NODA Orientation Professionals Institute for 5 years at the regional and national level. Other NODA activities include serving on the NODA Board of Directors (1995-1998), NODA vice-president (1998-2000), and NODA president (2000-2002). In 2006 she was the recipient of the NODA Outstanding Contributions to the Orientation Profession award.
Cindy received her B.A. in Political Science in 1982 from the University of North Texas and her M.Ed. in Counseling in 1992 from Northern Arizona University. She is the proud but tired mother of three very active teenagers and serves on the School Governing Board in her community.
Jack Rhodes currently serves as the Associate Vice Provost for Enrollment Management, and Director of Orientation Programs at Indiana University Bloomington. Through his tenure at Indiana University Jack has provided leadership for the areas of Admissions, Orientation Programs, Scholarship Programming and Community College Transfer Outreach and Articulation Programs. He brings a wealth of experience in the areas of advising, marketing, transition and retention programming.
Jack has been a member of NODA since 1987. During his tenure with NODA Jack has been intrinsically involved in the organization. He served as a member of both the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee. Additionally, Jack held the position of Director of Membership Services, and he served as a member of the faculty for the Orientation Professionals Institute.
Jack pursued his undergraduate studies at Marquette University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communication. He later earned his Masters of Arts Degree in Higher Education - Student Affairs from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Denise L. Rode, Director of Orientation & First-Year Experience, has directed Northern Illinois University’s new student and family orientation programs since 1987. She has worked in financial aid and admissions at Northern, and has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in the College of Education.
Denise has received an Outstanding Faculty Adviser Award for her work with the NIU chapter of Lambda Sigma Sophomore Honor Society and was honored with a Presidential Supportive Professional Award for Excellence. Rode has been named a semi-finalist for the Outstanding First-Year Student Advocate Award, cosponsored by the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Houghton Mifflin Publishing.
Dr. Rode is a three-time alumna of NIU, earning a B.A. degree in English and journalism, a master’s degree in counselor education, and a doctorate of education with an emphasis in college student development.
Beyond the campus, she has served Mortar Board senior honor society as national president, is editor of The Journal of College Orientation and Transition for NODA, and teaches graduate student affairs courses at DePaul University in Chicago. She was named NODA’s Outstanding Orientation Professional in 2002 and received the award for Outstanding Contributions to the Orientation Profession in 2007.
Aurélio Manuel Valente currently serves as Assistant Dean for Student Development at Philadelphia University and is a doctoral candidate in higher education at Florida State University. At Philadelphia University, Aurélio coordinates new student programs, first-year experience and serves as the divisional liaison for academic affairs. Additionally, he supervises the offices of International Programs, Community Service and Campus Ministry. As a doctoral student, Aurélio’s research interests include student development in the first year of college and institutional efforts to promote student success and engagement. He has published several articles regarding service-learning, first-year experience and ethics in higher education in the Journal of College and Character and served as a contributing chapter author for the forthcoming third edition of The Handbook for Student Affairs Administration.
Aurélio has been working in higher education at five different institutions in locations ranging from New England, Mid-Atlantic and Florida, and brings fifteen years of experience in a variety of student affairs areas including residence life, student leadership, service-learning, orientation, and first-year experience, along with five years of adjunct faculty appointments in varying programs of academic study.
His belief in the value of well delivered comprehensive student centered programs and the vital role of service and leadership is derived from the role they played in his own life as a first generation college student. Having been born and raised in Portugal, Aurélio has a deeply held commitment to appreciation for diversity and the impact of access to higher education has to uplifting lives in all communities.
Aurélio earned his B.S. from the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth in 1993, his M.Ed. from Suffolk University in 1999, his MBA from University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth in 2000 and anticipates the completion of his doctorate in Higher Education from Florida State University in 2009. Aurelio is on the NODA Boston planning committee and in 2007 won the prestigious Norman K. Russell Scholarship from NODA. In 2006 he was presented with the Outstanding Service to Massachusetts College Personal Association Award from ACPA and the Sherrill W. Ragans’ Leadership & Service Award from the College of Education at Florida State University in 2008.
