UK Advisors Elected to NACADA Leadership
LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 27, 2015) — Two University of Kentucky advisors have been elected to serve in leadership roles within the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA), a volunteer organization that works to better the advising process for students. Suanne Early will serve as the Region 3 chair and Jason T. Mitchell will serve as the advising graduate and professional students chair.
"Suanne and Jason’s election into NACADA’s national leadership is a recognition of their own knowledge and skills. It reflects well on UK as an institution that we have people like Jason and Suanne who are dedicated to helping our students succeed. I look forward to seeing how their work with NACADA and help inform our current efforts to further strengthen advising on this campus," said Benjamin C. Withers, associate provost for undergraduate education.
Early and Mitchell will both serve two-year terms in their new roles.
Early first joined NACADA in 2001, and has served in both national and regional leadership positions within the organization. As Region 3 chair, Early will be responsible for representing and providing leadership to the membership within the geographic region, facilitating networking opportunities and member recruitment, identifying needed membership services for the region, establishing and maintaining a regional governing structure, and overseeing the annual regional conference, state workshops and other professional development opportunities for region members.
"You can't just take, you need to give back and this is the best way I know how to do so," said Early in her platform statement.
Early currently works in the Division of Undergraduate Education at UK, as a student affairs officer and academic advisor.
Mitchell's position as advising graduate and professional students chair is one of several commission chair positions within NACADA. In this role, Mitchell hopes to raise awareness within the association that will allow for greater inclusion of those who work with graduate and professional students. Mitchell is a six-year member of NACADA.
"I have been empowered to look at the relationship graduate and professional students forge with their advisors and how these relationships serve to create an experience that is meaningful to the student," said Mitchell in his position statement.
Mitchell currently serves as administrative director in the Office of Biomedical Education at UK College of Medicine.
Early and Mitchell will assume these leadership roles at the end of the NACADA Annual Conference being held in Las Vegas, Nevada, in October, and serve in this position until October 2017.
NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising was chartered as a nonprofit organization in 1979 to promote quality academic advising and professional development of its membership to ensure the educational development of students. Since that beginning, NACADA has grown to 11,000 members consisting of faculty members, professional advisors, administrators, counselors and others in academic and student affairs concerned with the intellectual, personal and vocational needs of students. In addition, NACADA is the representative and advocate of academic advising and those providing that service to higher education. For more information, visit NACADA's website at www.nacada.ksu.edu.
MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Hale, 859-257-8716; whitney.hale@uky.edu