NACADA Commission & Interest Group Division -- Chair Leadership Report Form 2011 Annual Report

Name of Chair: Tyann D. Cherry NACADA Commission & Interest Group Division -- Chair Leadership Report Form 2011 Annual Report Name of Commission / Interest Group: Distance Education Advising Commission Section 1: Identify the volunteers serving within your unit (on steering committees, other committees, as webmaster, proposal readers, etc.). Name of Committee/Activity Name of Committee Member Institution of Committee Member E-mail of Committee Member (if available) (steering, award, proposals, etc.) Subcommittee for Research on Dr. Kristen Betts (Chair of subcommittee) Drexel University Kristen.Betts@armstrong.edu Academic Advising in Online and Blended Education Subcommittee member Jonathan Gehrz Capella University jonathan.gehrz@capella.edu Subcommittee member Susan Moyer Excelsior College smoyer@excelsior.edu Subcommittee member Elizabeth Teagan Texas Tech University elizabeth.teagan@ttu.edu Subcommittee member Jennifer Varney Southern New Hampshire University J.Varney@snhu.edu Subcommittee member Carol Katsumes Upper Iowa University katsumesc@uiu.edu Subcommittee member Delores Jackson Midwestern State University delores.jackson@mwsu.edu Subcommittee member Diane Hanson Indiana State University Diane.Hanson@indstate.edu Subcommittee member Makia Tillman miacity@yahoo.com Subcommittee member Isabel Silver University of Florida isilver@ufl.edu Subcommittee member Lisa Haas Colorado Technical University LHaas@ctuonline.edu Subcommittee member Carmen Austin Drexel University carmen.l.austin@drexel.edu Subcommittee member Wanda Letisha Johnson Drexel University wlj25@drexel.edu Subcommittee member Tracey Shaffer Drexel University tls84@drexel.edu Subcommittee member Erin Gabriele Drexel University eg374@drexel.edu Subcommittee member Heather Blackbum Drexel University hab22@drexel.edu Subcommittee member Marly Wilson University of Hawaii marlyw@hawaii.edu Subcommittee member Linda Hannan Principia College Linda.hannan@principa.edu Subcommittee member Sarah Mazur University of Texas at Arlington mazur@uta.edu Subcommittee member Brighton Brooks Brighton, Brooks, University of Alaska- Bwood13@alaska.edu Fairbanks Webinar / Professional Development Tyann Cherry (chair) Webster University cherry@webster.edu Committee / Communications Sub committee Subcommittee member Kelly C Czak Ohio University czack@ohio.edu Subcommittee member Lisa Haas Colorado Technical University LHaas@ctuonline.edu Subcommittee member Joanne Robson Grant MacEwan Univeristy Robsonj4@macewan.edu Website subcommittee Ron Banks (chair of Charter Oak State College rbanks@charteroak.edu subcommittee) Subcommittee member Brighton Brooks Brighton, Brooks, University of Alaska- Fairbanks Bwood13@alaska.edu

Section 2: Outline your annual activities as they relate to the NACADA missions and strategies. Post-Conference Report (due in November): Indicate the primary activities and/or goals on which your commission will focus for the next year as they relate to the NACADA Strategic Plan. Remember you do not need to list an activity for every mission statement listed below. Be sure to describe the assessment criteria that will be used to determine if these goals are met. If you plan to offer the Service to Commission Award next year, be sure to list this in the Activity column as an additional goal where applicable and include the $50 budget request with that activity statement. If you are an Interest Group planning to seek Commission status next year, be sure to list that goal in the Activity column. The and Progress Made and Assessment columns should be left blank in the post-conference report these columns will be completed when your annual report is submitted in the summer. Annual Report (due in August): Update the and Progress Made and Assessment columns to report on the progress made towards the goals outlined in the post-conference report. If additional activities were completed that were not in the post-conference report, add these at this time. Strategic Goal 1: Address the academic advising needs of higher education globally. 1-A Identify, prioritize, and address critical issues facing academic advising. 10/04/10 Revision of the NACADA Standards for Advising Distance Learners Ron Banks, Kristen Betts, Lisa Haas, Angela Dorsey and Tyann Cherry 02/11 Was a revised version of these standards submitted to the National Office for review? Yes, the new standards were submitted and have been posted to the DEA website 01/13/11 revised standards were submitted to the national office to be placed on the website. At that time it was determined that the old standards should be removed and the new standards should be placed on the DEA website(http:/ /www.nacada. ksu.edu/comm issions/c23/re sources.htm) The Hot Topics session in Orlando revolved around this topic and a draft has been put together by Ron Banks. We will have a November webinar around this and should be ready to submit for review by December. 11/23/10 Meeting took place via webinar post conference to continue updating the NACADA Standards for Advising Distance Learners

1-B Collect, analyze, and act upon information about the environments in which academic advising operates. 1-C Provide comprehensive professional development opportunities. 10/04/10 Commission expressed an interest in cross-cultural communication at a distance. We will make this topic part of our webinar series for the upcoming year. 10/04/10 Commission also expressed interest in Tutoring, students on probation, communication with adult students, online services, English as second language students, assessing effectiveness of advising, international student s cultural barriers and technology, time frames (semester, quarters), reputation, articulation agreements, online orientation, college readiness, online and onsite courses not competing. Webinar / Professional Development Committee / Communications Webinar / Professional Development Committee / Communications 10/11 Was cross-cultural communication at a distance a webinar topic and did more than 10 people attend Yes, we did hold this webinar and it was attended by 40 participants at over 25 institutions 10/11 Were at least three of these topics addressed via the DEA webinars throughout the year? Yes, three of these topics have been addressed (see progress updates at right) 04/26/11 DEA Commission held webinar presented by NAFSA fellow Bethany Keller on Cross- Cultural Communicati on at a distance: http://deaco mmission.blo gspot.com/20 11/04/aprilwebinar-hasarrivedcross.html Contact has been made with NAFSA around this issue and we are securing NAFSA presenters for this topic in January Presenter was unable to commit until April 2011 date when webinar was held. 12/09/10 Webinar was held in conjunction with the Advising Adult Learners Commission and the Advising Graduate and Professional Students Commission on "Advising Through Tutoring: How an Online Writing Tutor Program Fosters Graduate Student Success" presenter was Cynthia Greene of UMUC: http://deacommission.blogspot.com /2010/12/join-us-for-ourupcomming-meeting-on.html ( 32 in attendance )

01/27/11 Webinar was held on Personalizing the Online Center Writing Experience presenters were Heidi Marshall, Amy Kubista and Sara Culver of Walden University http://deacommission.blogspot.com /2011/01/announcing-januarywebinar.html ( 20 in attendance) 04/26/11 April Webinar on Cross Cultural Communication at a Distance http://deacommission.blogspot.com /2011/04/april-webinar-has-arrivedcross.html ( 40 in attendance) Strategic Goal 2: Advance the body of knowledge of academic advising. 2-A Promote and support research related to the enhancement of academic advising through further understanding of the student, the campus environment, advising processes, or other related areas. 10/04/10 To submit one article for publication to the NACADA Journal Subcommittee for Research on Academic Advising in Online and Blended Education Assessment Criteria to be used 10/11 Submission of article to NACADA Journal ongoing Subcommittee is currently working toward this goal and has scheduled the following upcoming meetings: Tuesday, January 11th, 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm ET Tuesday, March 8th, 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm ET Tuesday, May 10th, 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm ET A group within the commission was connected via the DEA blog to produce a survey related to distance advisor job satisfaction. This group gained IRB approval and conducted their survey. They will present their findings at the National Conference this year and will produce a article to submit for publication to the NACADA Journal Group has met (07/28/11) to discuss survey results and continues to work toward final report 2-B Disseminate the knowledge acquired from the research.

Strategic Goal 3: Champion the educational role of academic advising to enhance student learning and development in a diverse world. 3-A Identify and develop strategies for fostering collaboration and education among various advising external constituencies both nationally and internationally. 10/04/10 Webinar on cross-cultural communication at a distance Webinar / Professional Development Committee / Communications 10/11 Was a webinar held in conjunction with the Advising International Students Commission and a NAFSA fellow on this topic? Yes, we did hold this webinar and it was attended by 40 participants at over 25 institutions 04/26/11 DEA Commissi on held webinar presented by NAFSA fellow Bethany Keller on Cross- Cultural Communi cation at a distance: http://dea commissio n.blogspot.com/201 1/04/april -webinarhasarrivedcross.html Contact has been made with NAFSA around this issue and we are securing NAFSA presenters for this topic in January Presenter was unable to commit until April 2011 date when webinar was held. Strategic Goal 4: Educate university and college decision makers about the role of quality academic advising in higher education. 4-A Identify and develop practical strategies and materials for use by college and university leadership. 10/09 Comprehensive update of DEA Commission website Website subcommittee 10/11 Were website updates submitted to update resources, remove broken links and provide additional information as needed. ongoing Ron and Brighton will be working together on this project in the coming year.

Strategic Goal 5: Ensure the effectiveness of the NACADA organization 5-A Promote diversity within the association. 5A(i) Create environments and processes that promote and sustain inclusion and involvement in the association. 10/04/10 Commission will work to continue it s monthly webinar series to promote engagement throughout the year Webinar / Professional Development Committee / Communications 10/11 Were at least 7 webinar sessions held for membership throughout the year? 4 of 7 session have been held thus far this year ongoing November webinar is currently scheduled for the 23 rd so as not to interfere with the National Office. We have held 4 of 7 sessions so far this year. 11/23/10 NACADA Standrads update (23 in attendance) 12/09/10 Online tutoring 01/27/11 Personalizing Online Writing Experience 04/13/11 Cross Cultural Communication at a Distance We are currently working to host a webinar on systems used to target online student populations and online advising models. We will also host a webinar that details the results of the Distance Education Advisor Job Satisfaction Survey. 5A(ii) Increase diversity within NACADA leadership at all levels. 5-B Enhance NACADA's global visibility and credibility as the resource for concerns and needs involving academic advising.

Section 3: Issues/Items for consideration by the Division. Many commission and interest group chairs were interested in creating opportunities for their membership to meet and foster professional development throughout the year. The CIG committee might consider a special session for NACADA leaders to show them the kinds of things that can be utilized for free (freeconferencecall.com, PBWorks, Blogger, Mikogo, Yugma, Vywe, Prezi Meeting, etc) to foster this kind of connection throughout the year. Section 4: Describe how you have incorporated diversity and inclusiveness of membership into the planning of your unit s goals and activities. What criteria were used to accomplish this (such as institutional type, ethnicity, new professionals, experienced professionals, role faculty, administrator, advisor; region, etc.)? We have been focusing on inclusion of institutions of different types. Distance Education is becoming a mission critical component to ALL colleges and universities, not just the private or for-profit sectors. However, since typically private and for-profit institutions have been delivering these services for a longer period there is much to be learned from these kinds of institutions as other colleges and universities work to begin or maintain their ever growing online populations. Section 5: Summary of Unit Communications and Meetings Name/type of Group Meeting: Webinar Conference / Revision of the NACADA Standards for Advising Distance Learners and Location: 11/23/10, webinar Number of Members Attending/participating: 23 Summary of Meeting: Ron Banks led a discussion of the revision of the NACADA Standards for Advising Distance Learners Input was given by membership on the updates and changes that were made thus far and suggestions for finalizing revisions Ron submitted the final version via email 12/08/10 Final version was submitted to National Office on 01/13/11 Name/type of Group Meeting: Webinar Conference / Research Sub-committee and Location: 11/29/10, webinar Number of Members Attending/participating: 26 Summary of Meeting: Presentation was made on Private, Public & For-Profit institutions: Best Practices for Meeting the needs of Online Students Through Academic Advising. Plans were made for a winter survey to be sent regarding online students. Name/type of Group Meeting: Webinar Conference / Advising Through Tutoring and Location: 11/29/10 Number of Members Attending/participating: 32 Summary of Meeting: Presentation was made by Cynthia Greene of UMUC, Summary: Effective written communication is fundamental to academic success, especially for adult learners. At University of Maryland University College, an open access university, there is a wide variance in the writing skills of students. To facilitate student success, the Graduate School recently embedded Writing Tutors into several foundation courses.

In this entirely online tutoring program, writing tutors review student assignment drafts, engage students through general writing and specific assignment tips - in both traditional and multimedia formats, and provide students with resources for use in other environments. This presentation will provide an overview of the program, an assessment of the program's effectiveness, and an analysis of best practices in implementing a writing tutoring program for adult learners in a virtual environment. Name/type of Group Meeting: Webinar Conference / Research Sub-committee and Location: 01/11/11, webinar Number of Members Attending/participating: 23 Summary of Meeting: New Regulations Relating to Program Integrity and Accessibility presentation given by Kristen Betts Name/type of Group Meeting: Webinar Conference / Personalizing the Online Writing Center Experience and Location: 01/27/11, webinar Number of Members Attending/participating: 20 Summary of Meeting: Presentation given by Heidi Marshall, Amy Kubista and Sara Culver of Walden University, Summary: In the summer of 2009, the Walden Writing Center began development on a new initiative to provide more streamlined feedback to students and to make full use of the resources available to students. The Personal Writing Plan (PWP) was born from a staff retreat conversation about three types of students: stagnant writers, those students who visit the writing center time and time again and never show any improvement; underdeveloped writers, those students whose English proficiency needs to be raised before they can write effective academic English; and the hyper vigilant writers, those students who are strong writers but lack the confidence to submit their writing without first having it reviewed by a tutor. Because of the high demand of our services, we needed to find a way to direct these students down the appropriate channels so they don t become stuck in the writing center rut. The PWP provides us with a tool to assess a student s writing at our first point of contact with that student, and based on that assessment send the student personalized modules that suggest how he or she can most effectively use the resources that the Writing Center offers. We finalized the modules in December of 2010 and began our pilot implementation of the program in early January, 2011. Come learn about our process of developing this unique program and how students reacted to the pilot. Name/type of Group Meeting: Webinar Conference / Cross-Cultural Communication at a Distance and Location: 04/26/11, webinar Number of Members Attending/participating: 40 Summary of Meeting: Presentation given by Bethany Keller, NAFSA Fellow and Asst. Director of the Multi-Cultural Center at Webster University, Summary: This topic was requested specifically at our national conference meeting in Orlando. Participants were invited to email Tyann Cherry (cherr@webster.edu) directly with specific questions or topics they wanted to see addressed in this session. This will allowed Bethany to address topics around cross-cultural communication that are of most interest to our membership.