Commission Chairs are elected by their Commission members and provide leadership for Commission activities in support of the profession by representing its members and their needs and concerns through the Division Representatives and communicating with the members. Commission Chairs coordinate commission activities and lead Commission meetings during the Annual Conference. Commission Chairs report to the Division Representatives for the Commission and Interest Group Division (CIGD).
Peer Advising & Mentoring Chair - (elected, term October 2018 - October 2020). Prior to taking office, candidates must have completed the previous year as a member in the Commission and be a current member in that group.
Derek Furukawa
University of Nevada, Reno Reno, NV
Platform
Platform Statement: Part I
1. If elected to this position, what will you attempt to accomplish that will help to meet the strategic goals of the Association? (1500 characters or less)
Though you could say that peer advising is a form of technology to support academic advising, that may be a bit of a stretch. The two strategic goals of the association that align most with what I hope to accomplish as chair are to increase the scholarship about peer advising and mentoring and to provide professional development opportunities for NACADA members.
For increased scholarship, we have been viewing peer advising and mentoring as concepts that are relatively new to be introduced. We are reaching the tipping point where those practices have been around long enough to start looking into ways to assess and research these areas. An article is nice, but I hope to develop a more in-depth database of both specific peer advising and mentoring as well as general peer-to-peer practices that have proven fruitful in the profession.
For professional development opportunities, I would like to look into developing a couple of pieces that commission members could utilize in their...
Though you could say that peer advising is a form of technology to support academic advising, that may be a bit of a stretch. The two strategic goals of the association that align most with what I hope to accomplish as chair are to increase the scholarship about peer advising and mentoring and to provide professional development opportunities for NACADA members.
For increased scholarship, we have been viewing peer advising and mentoring as concepts that are relatively new to be introduced. We are reaching the tipping point where those practices have been around long enough to start looking into ways to assess and research these areas. An article is nice, but I hope to develop a more in-depth database of both specific peer advising and mentoring as well as general peer-to-peer practices that have proven fruitful in the profession.
For professional development opportunities, I would like to look into developing a couple of pieces that commission members could utilize in their own practices. The first would be a piece that details approaches to initiating a peer advising or peer mentoring program on one's campus. Further, a second piece could be created to look at how to develop professional development for peer advisors as a program sees the need to evolve.
As a whole, the focus of this group is always critical because it focuses on practices that evolve over time based on the climate of the higher education setting.
Platform Statement: Part II
2. Describe an accomplishment on your own campus or within NACADA of which you are proud. What do you believe your accomplishment demonstrates about your abilities as a leader? (1500 characters or less)
When I arrived on my campus about 5 years ago, the involvement in any professional development association, let alone NACADA specifically, was minimal. In addition to facilitating the increase of advisors in which to reduce the student to advisor ratio on the campus, I really wanted to make sure that the profession of academic advising gained a stronger reputation and was seen as a professional, research-driven practice on the campus. To just dive right in to something, I decided to have the campus host a state drive-in conference in 2014. Having worked on the only other two state conferences in history, I was confident that I could pull it off even without help. The campus advising community truly stepped to the place and it resulted in a strong, cost-effective conference. What was more satisfying was that the committee members started asking what the next conference was that we would host. With that in mind, I volunteered the campus once again to host a conference. This time, it...
When I arrived on my campus about 5 years ago, the involvement in any professional development association, let alone NACADA specifically, was minimal. In addition to facilitating the increase of advisors in which to reduce the student to advisor ratio on the campus, I really wanted to make sure that the profession of academic advising gained a stronger reputation and was seen as a professional, research-driven practice on the campus. To just dive right in to something, I decided to have the campus host a state drive-in conference in 2014. Having worked on the only other two state conferences in history, I was confident that I could pull it off even without help. The campus advising community truly stepped to the place and it resulted in a strong, cost-effective conference. What was more satisfying was that the committee members started asking what the next conference was that we would host. With that in mind, I volunteered the campus once again to host a conference. This time, it was the Region 9 Conference this year (2017). The committee members were able to apply knowledge learned from the previous conference and scale it to the size of the region's needs. As a result of facilitating a professional development conference, I feel that the advisors on my campus are now actively seeking ways to develop their academic advising expertise on a regular basis.
Platform Statement: Part III
3. Why are you interested in serving in this leadership position or what influenced you to run for this leadership position? (1500 characters or less) I have been involved with the Peer Advising and Mentoring group since about 2013, when I first toyed with the idea of starting a peer advisor program on my campus. This involvement has increased over the years to my role as a steering committee member. I strongly believe that this group can continue to grow and support the other peer advising and peer mentoring coordinators every year. I have seen the benefit of some professional advisors come from the peer advising program that I started and feel that is reason enough to continue to promote its value to others.
Platform Statement: Part IV
4. Please describe how you will work to promote the enhancement of inclusivity throughout (or within) the association. (1500 characters or less)
I personally feel that inclusivity is pivotal in the NACADA association. Our profession and our students becomes more diverse every year. I often look at the typical leadership in the association and see what is often viewed as a stereotypical academic advisor. Just like students, it can seem discouraging to not see anyone who looks like you in leadership roles for the association. As a male, I brought the issue of masculinity in advising to the annual conference in 2009, where I was astounded at the interest in the topic. As a person of color, I stay cognizant of inherent biases and tendencies within my campus as well as among the association. The simple act of improving one's own perspective of inclusivity can make such a strong difference in the way that we approach the association and our profession. I recently moderated a panel about cultural appropriation and saw how students were easily reflective of their behaviors by simply providing an open and safe environment for them...
I personally feel that inclusivity is pivotal in the NACADA association. Our profession and our students becomes more diverse every year. I often look at the typical leadership in the association and see what is often viewed as a stereotypical academic advisor. Just like students, it can seem discouraging to not see anyone who looks like you in leadership roles for the association. As a male, I brought the issue of masculinity in advising to the annual conference in 2009, where I was astounded at the interest in the topic. As a person of color, I stay cognizant of inherent biases and tendencies within my campus as well as among the association. The simple act of improving one's own perspective of inclusivity can make such a strong difference in the way that we approach the association and our profession. I recently moderated a panel about cultural appropriation and saw how students were easily reflective of their behaviors by simply providing an open and safe environment for them to share. I hope to bring this same open and safe environment to the leadership positions that I hope to attain in the association.
Past Involvement in NACADA
5. Outline your past involvement in NACADA:
a. Years in NACADA
b. National Offices Help and Accomplishments Achieved
I have been a member of NACADA for about 15 years. In the past 10 years, I have served my region as a proposals chair for the first state conference and chaired the second state conference in a design that paid close attention to cost and provided an online environment to access professional development opportunities. As mentioned previously, I served as chair for the third state conference as well as the most recent regional conference. I have served on the Webinar Advisory Board, and the steering committees for the Peer Advising and Mentoring Commission and the Commission for Undeclared and Exploratory Students (CUES), and Technology Commission. I have been a presenter at Topical (social justice), State, Regional, Annual, and International conferences for NACADA and also served as a state liaison on the Region 9 Steering Committee.
NACADA Executive Office
Kansas State University
2323 Anderson Avenue, Suite 225
Manhattan, KS 66502-2912
Phone: (785) 532-5717 Fax: (785) 532-7732
e-mail:
nacada@ksu.edu
