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 and Mentoring Chair - (elected, term October 2014-October 2016). 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.
Dr. Megumi I Makino-Kanehiro
University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu HI
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? If elected, I would encourage all peer advising program coordinators to be involved in our commission. I would establish an active steering committee and encourage presentations from our commission members. Our members have a wealth of knowledge and experience that we can use to strengthen this commission. I would focus on communication and foster sharing of tips and strategies through the listserv. I would also attempt to recognize the hard work and efforts of previous leaders in our commission by hopefully awarding the first service to peer advising commission award. I would want to enlist involvement from diverse institutional types because I believe that we have so much to learn from one another.
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?
Two years ago, I was elected as an officer on our campus' Council of Academic Advisors (CAA). CAA is designed to be a four-year commitment. Over this time, an elected officer serves as a vice chair, a co-chair, the chair and the past chair. Every year, I have endeavored to create concrete goals for myself to contribute to and improve the work of the Council. Last year, as vice-chair, I was in charge of the listserv and finding advisors to take notes at our monthly meetings. I identified two improvements that I wanted to make. I invited and actively recruited interested individuals to sign up for the listserv. In the process, I more than doubled the number of advisors, departmental advisors and colleagues from related offices who were on the listserv. Note taking was previously a voluntary responsibility so it fell to the same individuals -- often the officers -- to take notes. I proposed and successfully lobbied to make the note taking role a rotating one so that everyone was involved...
Two years ago, I was elected as an officer on our campus' Council of Academic Advisors (CAA). CAA is designed to be a four-year commitment. Over this time, an elected officer serves as a vice chair, a co-chair, the chair and the past chair. Every year, I have endeavored to create concrete goals for myself to contribute to and improve the work of the Council. Last year, as vice-chair, I was in charge of the listserv and finding advisors to take notes at our monthly meetings. I identified two improvements that I wanted to make. I invited and actively recruited interested individuals to sign up for the listserv. In the process, I more than doubled the number of advisors, departmental advisors and colleagues from related offices who were on the listserv. Note taking was previously a voluntary responsibility so it fell to the same individuals -- often the officers -- to take notes. I proposed and successfully lobbied to make the note taking role a rotating one so that everyone was involved and the next vice chair would not have to struggle with this task. This year, I am in charge of workshops and decided to set up a monthly workshop series in which our committee members take turns in hosting the session. I sent out a call for requests on our listserv to find out what resource offices and topics the members wanted to learn more about and based on their feedback, I contacted the resource offices. With the help of one of our committee members, I scheduled all the sessions and rooms for the sessions in advance. I was very happy to have the entire series of workshops set so that we could announce them at our first CAA meeting. Based on suggestions from last year, I have worked with one of our committee members to set up a timeline for email announcements of sessions, RSVP deadlines, confirmation processes and speaker reminders. I have also asked the committee members to moderate sessions and assist with hosting duties. Though my accomplishments are small, I believe that my work in the CAA has shown my abilities to set goals and meet them, strengthen communication, foster a team approach and encourage involvement. I love to work with others and see them utilize their strengths and grow as individuals.
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? I find it extremely rewarding to train and mentor peer advisors. It is beneficial on two levels - advisees of peer advisors learn a great deal from them and the peer advisors themselves learn and grow so much. I am a firm believer in peer advising and have been fortunate to work with peer advisors during my entire career as an academic advisor. In addition, I am one of the co-founders, co-trainers and one of four supervisors for our cross-campus peer advising program. As a result, I have not only had first hand knowledge as a unit supervisor but I have also had an opportunity to learn the wider implications and the powerful impact that broader peer advising programs can have. Just as I did with my CAA experiences, I would value the opportunity to contribute in small but concrete ways and would strive to strengthen our commission.
Past Involvement in NACADA
4. Outline your past involvement in NACADA:
a. Years in NACADA
b. National Offices Help and Accomplishments Achieved
c. Regional Activities/Offices Held, including accomplishments achieved in office
d. Etc.
To be honest, when I first started as an advisor, I did not realize how important NACADA was and was a member on and off for a few years. Now that I am the director of an advising unit, I fully recognize NACADA’s value and am committed to be an active member of NACADA. I believe I have been a NACADA member for a total of seven years. Although I have not held any national or regional offices, I recently served as a panelist for the NACADA webinar, "The Peer Advising Advantage: Creating Meaningful Connections" in November 2013. This was an amazing experience to collaborate with colleagues from different institutions. I was inspired and re-energized by working with them. I am on the planning committee for the 2015 Region 9 Conference and serve as the chair for the registration committee. I have presented on a number of topics, including sessions on peer advising selection, training and supervision at regional and national NACADA conferences. I have also given a presentation with...
To be honest, when I first started as an advisor, I did not realize how important NACADA was and was a member on and off for a few years. Now that I am the director of an advising unit, I fully recognize NACADA’s value and am committed to be an active member of NACADA. I believe I have been a NACADA member for a total of seven years. Although I have not held any national or regional offices, I recently served as a panelist for the NACADA webinar, "The Peer Advising Advantage: Creating Meaningful Connections" in November 2013. This was an amazing experience to collaborate with colleagues from different institutions. I was inspired and re-energized by working with them. I am on the planning committee for the 2015 Region 9 Conference and serve as the chair for the registration committee. I have presented on a number of topics, including sessions on peer advising selection, training and supervision at regional and national NACADA conferences. I have also given a presentation with two of our peer advisor student coordinators at a statewide system conference.
NACADA
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e-mail:
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