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The Mentor: An Academic Advising Journal Hitting and Missing the Jackpot: The NACADA 2005 National Conference (a Mentor opinion piece) Joan F. Marques, Woodbury University This paper presents the author's opinion of the success and inadequacy of the NACADA national conference, October 5–8, 2005, in Las Vegas. The author was impressed by the sessions of motivational speaker Joe Martin, president of RealWorld University, but she was disappointed by the low number of workshops related to adult advising. The paper further presents the author's suggestion for a definition of academic advising. Introduction The NACADA 2005 national conference, “Hitting the Jackpot: Making Academic Success a Sure Bet!” was, with its 3,350 attendees, an absolute success in terms of turnout. The organization for this grand meeting was excellent, with a broad variety of advising-related topics and plenty of time for colleagues from all parts of the country to get acquainted. The sessions, especially the keynote, held some unexpected lessons and raised a few questions in the mind of this author. Hence, this paper follows up the call of NACADA Past President Eric White to continue the dialogue begun at the conference. Unexpected Lessons: Joe Martin's Motivational Speech The deepest impression and most encouraging lessons at the NACADA national conference came, in my opinion, from keynote speaker Joe Martin, president of RealWorld University. From Martin's speech, I identified the following important ideas for advisers:
To advisers reading the above, it should not be hard to find ways to apply Martin's lessons in their daily activities. For example, as a recent adult learner and international student, I have encouraged two international adult learners at my university to continue facing the challenge of being MBA students with English as a second language. Through self-reflection, I shared my story with these students and encouraged them to continue their educational journeys with renewed energy. Joe Martin's contribution to the NACADA 2005 conference was definitely a jackpot hit. Defining Academic Advising In a session where a NACADA task force reported progress on formulating a definition of academic advising, the following definition was presented: Academic advising is an intentional and multidimensional educational process that is grounded in teaching and learning with its own purpose, content, and specific outcomes.During the discussion session, a number of the participants expressed their discomfort with the vagueness of this definition and criticized its lack of specificity about what academic advising really entails. From my experiences, I have formulated the following personal definition of academic advising: Academic advising is a process of guiding, motivating, and assisting a student in making the right academic choices, considering his or her unique, contemporary life circumstances and needs, in order to enhance the student's academic success and gratification, while at the same time adhering to the institution's mission; endorsing retention and a sense of mutual satisfaction; and supporting an elevation in the general standards of the learning experience in higher education.I submitted my two cents via e-mail to the workshop presenters. Adult Learning As a participant, it is impossible to attend all of the sessions in a convention the size of the annual NACADA conference. I chose sessions to attend based on my current position as an adviser of adult students. One of my observations of the conference was that the number of adult-advising-related sessions was very limited. Some recorded numbers:
The number of sessions becomes even more discouraging when one recalls the keynote speech that Dr. Philip Friedman, president of Golden Gate University, gave in April 2005 at the NACADA Region 9 conference in San Francisco. I was impressed by his message and wrote at the time: “Friedman . . . emphasized the increasing trend of adult education, explaining that today, 60 percent of all jobs require skills that only 20 percent of the workforce possesses . . . . there are a growing number of adults enrolling in official educational programs because they are increasingly becoming aware of the value of investing in education, compared to the return to be expected on this investment, because companies keep demanding higher levels of education for new hires” (Marques, 2005, ¶12). Adult advising, along with the entire treatment of adult learning in higher education, shows an amazing trend of neglect in a time when the numbers of adult learners are steadily on the rise. In a brief article in Black Issues in Higher Education, Thomas (2005) registers the disturbing fact that colleges and universities are marginalizing adult learners in their missions (citing Sissel, Hansman, and Kasworm [2001]). Thomas continues that adult learners make up almost half of the students enrolled in college. Here he is citing a 2002 report from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The trend of adult learners as an increasing segment of the student population in higher educational institutions is not a new one. In the fall 2001 edition of The Presidency, the trend was observed in other NCES statistics. The article noted the following from the NCES Digest of Education Statistics, 2000: Enrollments at degree-granting institutions rose 11 percent from 1988 to 1998 (p. 13). “During those ten years, enrollment of students over age twenty-five rose by 7 percent, and the NCES projects that from 1999 to 2010, that rate will rise to 9 percent. In 1998, older students made up 41 percent of the student population” (p. 13). These data suggest a number of questions, including the question of why the NACADA 2005 national conference had so few sessions focused on adult learners. Burning Questions about Adult Advising The following questions pertaining to adult learning and academic advising were present before the NACADA 2005 national conference, yet their absence during the conference underscores my concern that adult learners in general represent a trend of neglect. As a professional adult adviser, I identified with statements made in one of the few sessions on adult advising during the conference. The session was titled, “A Fish out of Water: Challenges and Successes in Working with Adult Learners.” In this session, Lisa Youretz and John Fenelon from Marquette University reviewed their institution's successes with adult learners, even though the adult population at Marquette is small. In a college of 11,000 students, there are only 262 adult learners, or 2.38 percent. The presenters listed the following common hurdles adult learners encounter at their institution: a limited availability of majors during evenings and weekends, limited access to campus offices during hours that adults are on campus (evenings and weekends), limited scholarship offerings, and more. Yet, according to these speakers, they managed to establish some remarkable progress for the adult-learner population at their campus. Throughout this and other adult-advising-related sessions, I kept wondering about the following questions.
Given the finding above that more than 41 percent of enrollees in U.S. higher education institutions are classified as adult learners, it is amazing to me that higher education institutions and NACADA display an attitude of neglect toward this population group. Yet, the reality is that fewer than 3 percent of the sessions during the NACADA 2005 national conference were focused on adult learners and their needs for advising. A conference session that highlighted Marquette University was one of the exceptions. Readers who could shine additional light on this topic are definitely encouraged to do so. In addition, I have offered an alternative to the NACADA task force charged with drafting a definition of academic advising. Finally, I think keynote speaker Joe Martin hit the jackpot with his inspirational presentations. References Enrollments rise, but science degrees lag behind. (2001). The Presidency, 4(3), 12–13. Marques, J. (2005, July 25). The NACADA Region 9 conference: A participant's perspective. The Mentor: An Academic Advising Journal, 7(3). Retrieved October 23, 2005, from http://www.psu.edu/dus/mentor/ Sissel, P., Hansman, C., & Kasworm, C. (2001, Fall). The politics of neglect: Adult learners in higher education. In C. Hansman & P. Sissel (Eds.), Understanding and negotiating the political landscape of adult education (No. 91, pp. 17–28). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Thomas, E. (2005). The adult learner: Here to stay. Black Issues in Higher Education, 22(6), 4. About the Author Dr. Joan Marques is academic adviser and adjunct faculty at Woodbury University in Burbank, CA. She can be reached at jmarques01@earthlink.net or 818-767-0888. Published in The Mentor on March 13, 2006, by Penn State's Division of Undergraduate Studies Available online at www.psu.edu/dus/mentor/ Privacy and Legal Statements | Copyright | © The Pennsylvania State University | All rights reserved | |