More than 230 people turned out in Tulsa to attend packed sessions, swap stories and strategies, and enjoy the hospitality of Dr. Gordon Johnson and the Gates Cambridge Trust, which hosted an evening at the Gilcrease Museum.  Dr. Johnson presented valuable information regarding this new scholarship opportunity, and followed up in July with an update to all conference-goers.

     Although unable to attend, Kansas State advising legend Nancy Twiss was invoked frequently, in Betsy Vardaman’s keynote address (reprinted here) and during the Ethics Panel, which touched on many of the ethical dilemmas, large and small, that we advisors face daily.  Ethical advising is also the focus of the Chronicle of Higher Education’s recent cover story, “Ambitious Colleges End the Ivy Lock on Prestigious Fellowships,” by Andrew Brownstein (Sept. 14, 2001). 

Many of you asked for an overview of the breakout sessions.  Here are some highlights.

• Create a photo gallery of winners in a prominent location: the president’s office, dining hall, or student union. 
• Encourage the student paper to interview applicants and finalists, and publicize scholar achievements.
• Email faculty with frequent updates of finalists and scholars.
• Present certificates of accomplishment to all nominees.
• Hold a reception with Admissions in the fall for incoming students with a “profile” of achievement and service, and introduce them to faculty and to the scholarship committee(s).
• When a student wins a scholarship, make much of the relevant department.
• Write letters to the Dean and President praising faculty who are helpful.

     Some particularly helpful advising strategies emerged from our discussions:

• Freewriting.  Encouraging students to write badly, weepily, nonsensically, establishes a safety zone from which to engage in self-exploration and take emotional risks.  Inevitably, as my students revise and “refine” their personal essays, I find we return again and again to the freewrite, where their voices are most raw, vulnerable, and authentic.
• Positive reframing.  As Norah Martin compellingly demonstrates in her article in this issue, helping students to re-examine and re-envision their lives can transform apparent liabilities into potential assets.
• The criticism sandwich.  It’s always hard to have one’s writing critiqued; how much more difficult with the personal essay, when students can feel as if it’s their very selves that we have shredded.  By enveloping our critiques between the initial affirmative response and finally, positive guidelines for revision, we can help reinforce the learning process.

   Who we are.
A majority of advisors report to a Dean or Associate Dean; another substantial number report to a Provost or VP for Academic Affairs.  A few lone rangers apparently report to no one at all.  Many advisors are also full-time faculty; an equal number have a range of additional advising responsibilities, such as medical and pre-professional advising.

   What our institutions could do to help us.
Overwhelmingly, we indicated a need for secretarial and administrative support.  Many advisors report having little to none.  Other needs:  more centrally located offices, and bigger, better office space; increased budgets and funding; incentives and rewards for faculty participation; and better organization of the process. 

   What our institutions could do to help students.
Oft mentioned is the need for consistent financial support for ancillary programs: undergraduate research, unpaid internships and volunteerism.  We would also like to see more interdisciplinary courses, smaller seminars, greater scope for student-faculty interaction, and more opportunities structured into the curriculum that help students reflect and articulate their goals—career counseling in its broadest sense.
We wish that more university administrators would acknowledge that simply to be a finalist is a tremendous accomplishment, and that all who apply for these awards deserve to be recognized.

A select list:

• University merit scholarships
• Undergraduate research programs
• Career development workshops and internship programs
• Community outreach offices/organizations and student service groups
• University Centers for policy, public interest, global affairs,  and research
• Peer mentor and young leader programs
• Academic and public service internships
• Interdisciplinary majors such as Environmental, Women’s, Classical, Peace and Conflict Studies
• First-year interdisciplinary seminar (common freshman experience)
• Independent study/honors thesis
• Off-campus study programs, particularly those that incorporate a service component

To NAFA Conference 2003:  Mark your calendars for mid to late June, 2003! Ken Lavin of the U.S. Air Force Academy has graciously offered to host NAFA’s second conference at Colorado Springs.  More information will be forthcoming in the spring newsletter.

To Becoming a Member: Thus far, 51 institutions have shown support by becoming institutional members and 15 individuals from other institutions have become members. For a list of those institutions, click here. If your institution or you would like to join, please complete the membership form. 
 

Many of you have expressed interest in NAFA's offering a trip to England in the late spring or early summer of 2002.  Working with the British Council, we are developing preliminary plans for a trip that will be a valuable resource for scholarship advisers.  Designed to help NAFA members understand more fully the Rhodes/Marshall/Gates Scholarships, the seven-to-nine day trip would include visits to London, Oxford, and Cambridge where we would meet officials from the foundations, resident scholarship winners, and British university faculty members. These on-site tours and discussions would enable us to have a clearer sense of the experiences our students are bidding for when they apply for—and are maximizing when they win—prestigious scholarships within the United Kingdom.
As you know, the recent national tragedy has caused everyone to reassess their air travel plans.  It is, of course, unclear how events in the US will unfold or how the consequences of the terrorist killings will affect international travel in the coming months.  We remain hopeful that the stability and safety of travel will be reestablished and that we will be able to give you specific dates and prices for a NAFA 2002 trip at some time later this semester.  Until then, we will proceed with tentative, exciting plans and be back in touch as we have more information.