Getting Started - Adventures in Advising

Hello friends and welcome to the first episode of Adventures in Advising, a new podcast hosted by Colum Cronin and Matt Markin.

In this episode Colum and Matt outline the origins of the podcast, discuss their hopes for it, and you’ll hear interviews with (in order of appearance): 

• Ryan Scheckel - Assistant Director for Pre-Professional Health Careers, Texas Tech University 
• Ivette Barbosa - Student Services Coordinator, Indiana University School of Social Work
• Charlie Nutt - Executive Director, NACADA

We’d love to hear from listeners. What did you enjoy? Are there improvements we could make? Are there specific topics you’d like us to cover, or people you’d like us to interview?

We now have a website! Check out and bookmark the Adventures in Advising website!

Also, subscribe to our new Adventures in Advising YouTube Channel!

The Twitter, Instagram and Facebook handle for the podcast is @AdvisingPodcast.

You can find Matt on Linkedin.

Follow to the podcast on your favorite podcast platform!

The Instagram, and Facebook handle for the podcast is @AdvisingPodcast

Also, subscribe to our Adventures in Advising YouTube Channel!

Connect with Matt and Ryan on LinkedIn.

Transcript

Colum Cronin: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome to Adventures in Advising and new podcast with me your host, Colin Cronin, 

Matt Markin: and happy New Year. This is Matt Markin. 

Colum Cronin: Excellent. This is our first episode of Adventures in Advising and during the recording process we had a couple of technical issues. We hope that those won't be repeated in future episodes.

Colum Cronin: We're asking you to bear with us during the first episode, and we hope it won't detract from your enjoyment. 

Matt Markin: Yeah, our goal was to get this out in 2019, towards the end of the year, and unfortunately that didn't work out with some of these technical issues. But yeah, I think, like Col said, we have these worked out and I think it was meant to be, to have this start out in 2020.

Colum Cronin: Excellent. So without further ado, here is episode one.[00:01:00] 

Colum Cronin: Hello and welcome to Adventures in Advising and new podcast series with your host, me Klum Cronin. 

Matt Markin: And hey, greetings and salutations. My name's Matt Markin. 

Colum Cronin: Good stuff. Thanks for joining me, Matt. So what are we going to be discussing today? 

Matt Markin: Colin, I mean it's our first episode, our pilot episode, so this could probably be a great opportunity to talk about what we want to do with the podcast, what this podcast actually is, maybe how to even begin.

Colum Cronin: Yeah, I think that's spot on. I think before diving in, we probably need to take some time to provide background for the listeners so they know how this podcast came to be and what our hopes for the podcast are. 

Matt Markin: Yeah, and I hope listeners will continue to. To be part of this podcast and we can bring a [00:02:00] lot of them to interview because we all have stories to share both you and I and everyone in the advising community.

Matt Markin: So this can definitely be something that we can connect with. People from all around the world globally. 

Colum Cronin: Absolutely. And I think that's, that, that's what we want. We want to hear stories, but the story of this where this podcast, where it originally came from, it's been in the works a little while and. I think I mean it began in Belgium over the summer.

Matt Markin: Yeah, summer July, Hazel Belgium at the NACADA International Conference, and that was an exciting time. That's where we actually met It is 

Colum Cronin: indeed, yes. I didn't even know of the existence of Matt, Matthew Markin prior to arriving in Belgium, but I was. Presenting at the conference and Brett Breck McFarland, who some of the listeners may know who works with NACADA, was the chairperson of the [00:03:00] session that I was presenting on.

Colum Cronin: And so I was up chatting to Brett during the kind of welcome reception on that, that opening evening. It's a beautiful kind of summers evening in her south. And at that point I think Brett introduced me to. Somebody he knew from back in California.

Matt Markin: I wonder who 

Colum Cronin: that 

Matt Markin: could be. 

Colum Cronin: I think he, he said his name was Matt.

Colum Cronin: Matt Markin. And I think we, we initially exchanged maybe a couple of pleasantries. 

Matt Markin: Yeah so here's the crazy thing is that was the opening night of the conference of the welcome reception. A couple of my colleagues flew in that day. And so we were all planning to go to the welcome reception.

Matt Markin: But they were very much jet lagged. They decided not to go. And. I was debating, okay, do I want to go by myself or not? And then said, you know what, let me just go [00:04:00] and see what happens. So I ended up getting there and it's already packed, everyone's in full conversation. At this reception.

Matt Markin: I recognize maybe a couple people that I've seen before, but maybe people I didn't know. So I literally just walk around the whole reception end. Think Okay, I am gonna probably just leave. So I'm actually on my way out when Brett leaves the table he's at. And so I was like maybe I'll just go and talk with Brett for a little bit.

Matt Markin: And then that's where enter column Crowin comes in and then we get introduced. But yeah, the funny thing is, yeah, we pretty much just had some pleasantries. Hi, what's your name? Where do you work? What are you doing at the conference? 

Colum Cronin: And at that point enter stage left one Charlie Nutt who I think put an arm on my shoulder, put an arm on your shoulder and said you guys do videos.

Colum Cronin: You should work [00:05:00] together. And I wanna see a video from you guys before the end of this conference, or at least that's how I remember it. 

Matt Markin: No, that's pretty spot on. I think the last detail is, and this is people who know Charlie, is he'll bring people together, give them a few words, and then exits the conversation.

Matt Markin: And leaves the people together to figure out what do we do about. Absolutely. 

Colum Cronin: And for those listeners who might not know, Charlie Dot, he is the executive director at NACADA. He is a man who certainly makes things happen. And in this instance, him telling us to work on a video together was quite serendipitous.

Matt Markin: Yes, that's very true. Very well put. I just remember after we were after he left, and then we stared at each other oh, so you do videos? What kind of videos do you do? So what will we put together here at [00:06:00] the conference? And then I had to leave. And then I just remember that night I'm trying to rack my brain, like, how do we put this together?

Matt Markin: 'cause if Charlie said We need to do it, we need to do it. And I remember us meeting up the following day and just brainstorming to figure out what will we do. I think.

Colum Cronin: The brainstorming and it flowed from there. And I think the really great thing about it was, and I think this is the wonderful thing about NACADA was the Charlie's willingness and I think the willingness of most people in the association to run with an idea.

Colum Cronin: So I, I think the. At that time, the bottle cap challenge was quite popular and I think that was an idea that we thought could work really well. What about if we did an acada bottle cap challenge? 

Matt Markin: I [00:07:00] don't know if we thought it would work really well. We just had the idea because it was popular at the time and because Charlie had said whatever you'd need.

Matt Markin: I'll do it. Just tell me when and where We wanted to put that to the challenge graciously. I was a believer

Colum Cronin: That it would work. I, the idea combined with Charlie's acting abilities I knew we, we would have a good product, but. From those humble beginnings and that initial video we've continued to work together on a number of different projects over the last few months.

Matt Markin: Transcontinental collaboration. Very true. I would say that we've done right and 

Colum Cronin: out of those working on the videos together. I suppose that's where the idea of looking to do something a little more in depth came from. 

Matt Markin: Yeah, we've been doing, it's almost seemed weekly videos at some points between the end of.

Matt Markin: The international conference and the annual conference in Louisville. But we [00:08:00] were able to bring in various other members of NACADA as part of these videos. And then, our discussions related to everyone has something to give. Everyone has something to share. NACADA really is this community and not just a community, more like a family.

Colum Cronin: And it was, I think, the interactions at the conference, and I know for me it was my first annual, so it was an opportunity to meet with a huge number of people and to, discover that. That warmth and that sense of belonging and that sense of community that existed at the international conferences was not just confined to those international conferences that it existed throughout the association.

Matt Markin: Yeah. And I know for you as your first annual conference for me I've gone to the last four annual conferences. Belgium was my first international conference, and there was something [00:09:00] special about it. Not just us meeting and making the videos and, here we are now.

Matt Markin: But I think just the environment and the connections that I was able to make at that conference it was something different than any other conference I've gone to. It's hard to explain, but I think. Folks who have attended an international conference probably could agree with that. But to then go to the annual conference and then reconnect with other members of the organization that I hadn't seen either since the international conference or the year prior at the previous conference in Phoenix.

Matt Markin: I've, 

Colum Cronin: Been to.

Colum Cronin: At like conferences as such now, and so I've been fortunate to, to have that opportunity to reconnect with people. And that has been really special because, you begin something and you, you build on it. And that has [00:10:00] certainly been my experience. Over the last what are we talking about?

Colum Cronin: Co coming up on almost two years now. In NACADA, and I think for me. I think for you, it, one of the most exciting things that we've done with our videos has been where we've had the opportunity to bring the NACADA community into the videos so that it's not just. Column and math, but it's column and black plus.

Colum Cronin: And I think that's really our aim with the, with this podcast as well. 

Matt Markin: Oh, 100% agree with you on that, and I'm really looking forward to see how this podcast turns out. And. The members of, not just NACADA, but in general in the advising, academic advising community, who were able to bring on this podcast and interact with something 

Colum Cronin: that I've experienced in getting the opportunity to.

Colum Cronin: Chat [00:11:00] to interact and do some interviews at the conferences is the sheer wealth of knowledge that exists within the NACADA community. And I think being able to share that with others and having the opportunity for us to learn and benefit from that. I'm very excited about the possibilities, but if we were to delve deeper into what we want to discuss today where are we going today, Matt?

Matt Markin: Who knows where this gets posted, right? But recorded this now, we're about three weeks after the annual ADA conference in Louisville, Kentucky. So I think it, this could be a great opportunity to reflect back on that conference. We already did that a little bit but if we want to go a little bit more in depth and maybe we're talking about 

Colum Cronin: Yeah.

Colum Cronin: Mean some highlights from that conference. For me, I had arrived in Louisville, having been in India and I had traveled [00:12:00] to about. Five different cities in India in a very short space of time over the course of about a week, and then I came back home to Dublin and I just had enough time to empty my suitcase, repack it, and then get on a flight to Louisville and.

Colum Cronin: I was definitely a little bit apprehensive about how my energy levels were going to be. I didn't know, was I was what was I gonna be like, what kind of state was I going to be in given that I was gonna be on three different continents in the space of 48 hours. For me, one of the things that really sticks out is how.

Colum Cronin: Energizing the conference was and the sheer buzz that there was from people. And I think that comes from the level of friendship that exists, but also. The [00:13:00] exchange of ideas that, that's one of the things I've really found in NACADA is you get shouting to somebody and all of a sudden within a short space of time, you're thinking I wonder if there's a project we could work together on.

Matt Markin: Oh yeah. And I think what happens when you have folks that attend conferences a lot of it's maybe not wanting to interact or not knowing how to interact with other people at the conference and or you go to a session, you take your notes, you go to the next session, you take your notes, you go back to your room.

Matt Markin: Then you go, come back the next day and then you know, you leave the conference and that's it. You take stuff back with you. But then do you do anything with it? Did you network with anyone at the conference? Did you connect with anyone? Did you look for opportunities? And I think sometimes people might be overwhelmed at conferences that they don't feel they know how to do that.

Matt Markin: But I think. The more you go to conferences, the [00:14:00] more you'll see some of the same people there. And that might be giving you more of that opportunity to chat with someone and learn from them. Because I think it's once you get the starting the talk with someone. You learn about them, you learn what they do, what they're about, and then yeah, then you can see, I can maybe partner with them on this project or I'm looking to do this at my institution, but they might have the knowledge to help me implement that or continue a project or something like that.

Matt Markin: One of the things I think at conference is really nice to learn is the keynotes. And I think at that conference, you had Tyrone Howard, which. He talked about a wide variety of different topics from like advisor burnout and taking care of yourself, that self-care, but then also the diversity of advising, the diversity of the people in advising.

Colum Cronin: I remember walking in and just saying wow, this is spectacular. And then, Tyrone Howard gets up [00:15:00] there and he was powerful. There were moments where, I wanted, say yes. I thought he gave a really powerful speech. I thought, there's so much we can take in terms of thinking, in terms of equity that it's not, we need to move merely beyond the quality and really think about what equity means and how we can bring that into our institutions.

Matt Markin: Oh yeah, absolutely. And I think there was. A few sessions at that conference that had to deal just with that. And the conversations are there and the conversations are going, and I'm excited to see how that impacts positively things. And one of the suppose 

Colum Cronin: of other things that we looked to, to do at the conference, we you you were especially busy over those few days.

Colum Cronin: But was we, I think we, we talked about it when we first met up in Louisville, was [00:16:00] about wanting to hear from the members and wanting to hear what NACADA meant to them. 

Matt Markin: Yeah. And this was something in the works. Some, a thought of, we, we've included. Members in our videos, but let's actually hear from them and see what do they really think about NACADA, what does NACADA mean to them?

Matt Markin: Because we hear a lot about NACADA family and how great the organization is. But to actually hear it from the members at the conference. 

Colum Cronin: For anyone who hasn't yet seen the video, I would definitely urge you to, to check it out. We have looked to post it on Facebook, on Twitter and on, on YouTube.

Colum Cronin: And it's a really powerful video and speaks to, I think, the. While the diversity in within the association. But how, you have people [00:17:00] who are in different institutions spread across the globe, but they all, have a connection. And there, there are those strands that you can see through throughout that draw people together.

Matt Markin: And if you think about it, a few years back, NACADA stood for the National Academic Advising Associa Association, and now it's NACADA, the global community. 

Colum Cronin: Another highlight for me was the inclusion of a Global Lounge in NACADA's annual conference this time. So it was the first time that the Global Lounge had been there, and a resounding success, I think, in terms of the conversations that happened, bringing people together and creating awareness that NACADA is now a global community.

Colum Cronin: But one of the things we were fortunate to do during our time in Louisville was to conduct some [00:18:00] interviews and to, I think, get some really wonderful insights from some really interesting individuals. 

Matt Markin: Another shout out to those that participated in the interviews. We really appreciate it because.

Matt Markin: Without your interviews, we really wouldn't be putting together a podcast right now, so thank you for that. So I think the first interview we can talk about would be the one with Ryan Shekel. So Ryan is someone that I've been friends on Facebook with for a couple years, but I never actually got to meet him officially until the Louisville conference.

Matt Markin: And I had first heard about him in 2015 at the annual conference in Las Vegas for NACADA. And he did a session on Star Wars and advising. And we actually have a mutual friend Tom Dixon, and I know anytime I talk. With Tom, he's from a University of California Riverside. We'd be talking about science fiction, and we're talking about advising, and he'd always be like, oh, you need to meet Ryan.

Matt Markin: You need to beat Ryan. [00:19:00] So it was a great opportunity and really a pleasure to meet him. But he's he works at Texas Tech University and he chatted with me a little bit at the conference about his co-presentation that he was doing in Louisville on on LMS how he incorporated Star Wars.

Matt Markin: Into academic advising. Also a little bit why he never got into Star Trek, which is actually my favorite series. His thoughts on star Wars with the upcoming Mandalorian series. So by the time this gets posted that series will already be out on Disney Plus. They're not sponsoring this podcast, by the way.

Matt Markin: But then he also talked about his advice for NACADA members if they wanna get more involved.

Matt Markin: Hey Ryan, thanks for being with us. Happy to be here. Thanks. Can you, for those that are watching, can you tell us a little bit about yourself, where you work, what your role is, your responsibilities? 

Ryan Scheckel: Yeah, so I'm at Texas Tech University. I'm the assistant director for what we call pre-professional health careers.

Ryan Scheckel: It's pre-med, pre-nursing, pre-pharmacy advising, that sort of stuff. Awesome. 

Matt Markin: And at this conference, are you [00:20:00] presenting? What are you presenting on? 

Ryan Scheckel: Yeah, I'm excited to be a part of the hot topic in technology. Which is the last day, and we encourage everyone to stick around and to do all that. We'll be talking about using an LMS to supplement and augment your academic advising practice.

Matt Markin: And if this is posted during the conference, please go to the last session. Go to Ryan's. That'll be great. Now, a lot of people that may know you or may not or have heard of you, they think of you with Star Wars. Can you tell us how that all came about with. Your love, for Star Wars and how that's been incorporated into advising or your presentations?

Ryan Scheckel: Yeah, absolutely. First we could talk forever about Star Wars but when I was an advisor, frontline advisor, working the school of art. At my institution, I was trying to figure out how do I incorporate advising theory into my practice? How to inform my practice with theory, and I kept running into distractions and the day to day and it was actually my interest and my longtime fandom of Star Wars that sort of broke that barrier to figure it out.

Ryan Scheckel: I was watching Return of the [00:21:00] Jedi. Darth Vader says perhaps I can find new ways to motivate you. And I was reading the chapter in academic or advising, academic advising approaches. I was reading the chapter on motivational interviewing and Darth Vader's quote, and that chapter I was like, wait a second.

Ryan Scheckel: There's a connection here and that, snowballed into a full presentation and the opportunity to really influence the conversation about advising theory and how engageable it is and how easy it can be to find a connection that makes it something usable. 

Matt Markin: Star Wars, do you like Star Trek?

Ryan Scheckel: So when I was an undergrad the, what is it? Not Voyager. The next generation, star Trek Next Generation was off and on in the afternoons, and I'd find myself watching it. And about 15, 20 miNuttes in the episode, I'd think, what am I doing? This isn't my thing. So I can appreciate it, but no.

Ryan Scheckel: Star Wars is way better. 

Matt Markin: We can still be friends. I'm That's right. I'm more Star Trek. I understand. Mandalorian's coming out. [00:22:00] What are your thoughts on that? 

Ryan Scheckel: It looks amazing. I think we can trust John Favreau. You can see what he did with the MCU, the Marvel Cinematic Universe and kicking it off with Iron Man.

Ryan Scheckel: And I think what he's gonna do, I think it's been a hard time for Star Wars fans to figure out this new Disney version of that world. And and I think John's one of the right guys. He's also working with Dave Filoni, who's been probably the most consistent creator for Star Wars through their animated products for the last 12 or so years.

Ryan Scheckel: And it's gonna be great. It was a automatic include in all my subscriptions, so Yeah. 

Matt Markin: Yeah. I got the Disney Plus already the pre one, so I'm set for three years. Sure. We'll, I'm sure we'll talk more about that later. Yeah. So with people at the conference or wanting to get more involved, what advice do you have for them?

Ryan Scheckel: That's finding that connection, finding that love, it's easy when you're a full-time advising professional to focus, I think on. Techniques and strategies and tips and secrets or programming. And that's great. There's a ton of opportunity here to learn about those things and with NACADA.

Ryan Scheckel: But eventually I think it's about [00:23:00] shifting your paradigm of what does it mean to be an advisor? What does it mean to be an advising professional? And what does academic advising and its place in higher education? That's all conversations that are happening here as well, not just at this conference, but in NACADA and and all of their many venues and opportunities to connect.

Ryan Scheckel: And so the thing that I would encourage people is if there's a chance, step back and get a big picture view of the more meta conversations that are happening. Even if you're gonna focus on some of the more tangible practical knowledge that's being shared find some way or somehow to get a big picture view too, of what's happening with academic advising and tertiary education.

Ryan Scheckel: Because there's some really fascinating things happening. 

Matt Markin: Awesome. Awesome advice and hopefully you get a little bit out of that or a lot out of that I should say. But thanks Ryan. 

Colum Cronin: Sure. It was great. Appreciate it. Really great interview with Ryan there. I think there's lots that people can take away and he's given some solid advice.

Colum Cronin: I would also recommend [00:24:00] following Ryan on Twitter. He's really insightful and he is happy to engage with people. So definitely if you are on Twitter, follow Ryan. And Matt, you mentioned there about Delorian and if we could get vernor her on as an interviewee, I think that would be amazing. Who knows what might happen further down the line.

Colum Cronin: People that we spoke to, of course, was a fascinating lady, Yvette Barbosa who again for anyone who has seen the video where I sit down to interview Yvette and. You put the microphone in her hand and her immediate response is to begin singing. And it's a really wonderful, beautiful moment.

Colum Cronin: And I think her personality shone through there because she is somebody who is undoubtedly passionate. But I thought what's [00:25:00] interesting is that, in her interview, she talked about how she had concerns when she first joined NACADA, and I think it, it speaks to. People when you know we can see somebody and we think that they're super outgoing and super confident and they never worry about anything.

Colum Cronin: But that isn't always necessarily the case. And I think Yvette's journey within the organization has been really interesting and I think. Let's hear her talk about that journey right now.

Colum Cronin: Hi everyone. I am here today with a very wonderful Yvette. Hi. And I suppose as a starting point, how did you come to be involved with NACADA? 

Ivette Barbosa: I started NACADA back in [00:26:00] 2010, I believe, and my first conference was in Gaylor, Nashville. And I remember very vividly that when I first check in, they gave me a map to find my room.

Ivette Barbosa: I didn't think I need it, but I really did. It was like a whole city before NACADA. I was working as an academic advisor in the school of social work and I'm the only advisor, so I didn't find anybody that did what I was doing in my school. And when I attend NACADA for the first time, I fell in love.

Ivette Barbosa: I said, this is people that get me. And from then I started attending all the time. I noticed that there were not a lot of Latinos, there were not a lot of Spanish things. There were not a lot of things that represent who I was. So I approached the hospitality table. I remember I started volunteering and I remember I met Jennifer Joslin, and I told her that there was nothing in Spanish.

Ivette Barbosa: And then she said, what are you gonna do about it? [00:27:00] And that's how I became involved with NACADA. 

Colum Cronin: That's wonderful. I think that is that's a true NACADA story. Where you just hang about and you're given work. So you, obviously the relationship blossomed. You said you fell in love almost instantaneously.

Colum Cronin: Yes, I did. So tell me more about how the relationship blossomed and your involvement with the Kata now. 

Ivette Barbosa: Okay. So I continue to attend, conferences started to look at people that looked like me, started getting involved, asking questions, and someone told me you should apply to the Emerging Leaders Program.

Ivette Barbosa: I didn't know what that was. They told me there's gonna be a presentation, so come and see what this all about. When to the to the session. And I'm just like, this appeals to me. But I was still very nervous because I'm like. I don't speak, I have an accent. I don't know that I'm gonna fit what I thought.

Ivette Barbosa: I don't fit that mold and I don't know that I'm gonna be good at this. But people [00:28:00] kept en encouraging me and I decided I'm gonna apply. To the Emerging Leaders Program, not expecting to be selected because during the presentation they say, sometimes it takes a couple of times, not always you get selected.

Ivette Barbosa: So I'm like, I'm just gonna keep knocking on the door or on a window or anywhere. And surprisingly, I got in the first time and started attending the Emerging Leaders program and got paired with Nancy, who, it is just absolutely helped me. She became like my compass because I was, I know what I, that I wanted to get involved, but I really didn't know how.

Ivette Barbosa: And she provided that guidance for me where she gave me a map and she said, you can go here. You can go there. And. It was not as scary as I thought it was gonna be. And then before I know it, I got invited into committees. I started saying we need more Spanish. So guess what? I'm the translator now.

Ivette Barbosa: And then I started talking about we don't have a lot of things in undocumented. We created a [00:29:00] U tutorial. So sometimes this speaking out and keeps showing up. So that's what I did.

Colum Cronin: You mentioned a couple of things there that I thought were interesting in terms of you felt you maybe you didn't fit the mold. I think they probably broke the mold when they made you. I think they did. And I think that's one of the wonderful things about NACADA is that I don't think there's a one size fits all approach.

Colum Cronin: I think having been involved for a little while, you can see that it's a very diverse. Community and we're adding increasingly to that diversity, which I think is important. And I suppose obviously next year the conference goes to Puerto Rico. Yes. So maybe you could tell me and anyone who's gonna be watching this a little bit about what to expect.

Ivette Barbosa: Okay. I don't know much about what's gonna happen, but I can tell you because I was born and raised in Puerto Rico, that the people of Puerto Rico, it's [00:30:00] very service driven. So even if you don't speak the language, you're gonna see people laughing and having fun. We're very musically inclined and there's a lot of influences from African roots to Spaniards.

Ivette Barbosa: And you are gonna see all kinds of shades and colors of people that speak Spanish or Spanglish sometimes. We are a US territory. Lots of people sometimes don't know that and we speak more than one language. But predominantly we do Spanish in the tourist area where we are going to be. It's a beautiful place with a lot of history from the Spanish era. All San Juan still has the same is it cobblestone from the 14 hundreds. You're gonna see the Fords where there used to be slavery and traffic of slaves, and there's a rich culture and history in the island. Lots of flavors.

Ivette Barbosa: And food [00:31:00] to, to try and lots of interesting things. So I think that people are going to feel welcome. And even though it's a US territory, it certainly does not feel like a state. It feels like a different country. Lots of things to try, lots of people to see. And it's in San Juan very close to everything.

Ivette Barbosa: And some people have approached me and they're like, oh my God, are they still okay? Are we gonna be able to go places I went to, I go to visit every year. My family's still there. The island looks perfect, especially San Juan area. Doesn't see or show that there was a hurricane other than you will see some fallen trees and you will see some things.

Ivette Barbosa: But for the most part, everything is back and running. I think it's gonna be a, an amazing experience for people to ex to expose themselves to another culture, another language, and hopefully increase their awareness of diversity and be inclusive. [00:32:00] Yes. 

Colum Cronin: I think if you are a representation of Puerto Rico, I think everyone is in for a fantastically fun time.

Colum Cronin: Yes. I hope so. So one of the things that we've been asking people at this conference is to, for them to try and sum up in so much as is possible in one or two sentences. What does NACADA mean to you? 

Ivette Barbosa: Okay. NACADA means my family away from my biological folks. It is a place where I find commonality, where I find love, acceptance and appreciation.

Ivette Barbosa: I, when I first joined nara and I started getting involved in nara. I thought I was not, I was gonna be rejected, and the opposite happened. I've been welcome and loved, and I found a group of friends that I have [00:33:00] bonds for forever. NACADA for me's family. Yay. 

Matt Markin: Am I one of those? Yes. 

Ivette Barbosa: Yes. You're, I love me.

Ivette Barbosa: So Matt, and so this is an amazing organization. 

Colum Cronin: Lovely cameo from the very wonderful Matt Mark in there. And I think your words on NACADA, I think that's a lovely kind of reflection on Tyrone Howard's keynote and you belong and the NACADA family. And I think everyone we've spoken to, that's what's come across so much.

Colum Cronin: So thank you very much for joining me today. I really appreciate it. 

Ivette Barbosa: Thank you. Gracias. 

Matt Markin: Yeah, that was a very very nice interview with Yvette. And so I've known Yvette for the last two years. We were part of the Emerging Leaders program, the 2017 to 2019 cohort. And she's just amazing. And I think you, you get her personality and you can feel her [00:34:00] energy and her passion from that interview.

Matt Markin: Like you don't even have to see it. Just hearing her. That she's very passionate about what she does, and she's super friendly. So if you get to see her at a conference or, chat with her online amazing person. You can't say enough about her. But speaking of amazing as well, and I think we're, going into our last interview for this podcast we talked about, we started with talking about how Charlie Nutt put us together.

Matt Markin: So I feel it's only right to end this podcast with the last interview with Charlie Nutt. And this was actually recorded on the last day of the conference. Charlie, super busy person, but he was able to carve out a little bit of time to do this interview. It was one of those. Tell me where and when and I'm gonna make it happen.

Matt Markin: Before I actually going into that interview. Just quick story. So when I landed in Louisville that night, I landed I get this text and it says [00:35:00] Charlie Scooter video question mark. And so I reply back. Sure if you wanna do a video with a scooter and Charlie Nutt. And so the next day they it's Brett McFarland and Charlie Nutt, and we meet up and Brett says, Hey, let's go find a scooter.

Matt Markin: And as we're walking to fight a scooter on the streets of Louisville. I ask so what do you wanna do with the scooter? And then Charlie looks at me and says we figured we just gave you an idea and you'd know how to record it and what the storylines could it be?

Matt Markin: So we were able to record a video of Charlie just riding on a scooter in search of. Louisville conference for NACADA and also how do you actually pronounce Louisville? 'cause there's 10 different ways to do it. So that was a fun little bit to do, especially in the beginning of that conference.

Matt Markin: But to end that conference I talked to Charlie about two things. [00:36:00] One was what were his highlights from this annual conference and two. What advice, not just general advice, but what is his advice for the attendees that just attended that conference? What can they do when they get back to their institution?

Matt Markin: Very intriguing interview for the time that he was able to spend with it. And yeah, let's check it out.

Matt Markin: We are on the last day here at the 2019 annual NACADA Conference in Louisville, Kentucky, and I get the privilege and honor to be here with Charlie Nutt, the executive director of nakada. How you doing Charlie? I'm doing wonderful. How are you? Splenda that you're here and I get to set next to you to be 

Charlie Nutt: here.

Matt Markin: So I know that you have a busy schedule even after this. So two questions with the conference winding down, what are some highlights for you for, from this conference? 

Charlie Nutt: Okay. I think there's probably too many highlights to notice or to be able to note first of all, Tyrone Howard. And [00:37:00] his phenomenal keynote speech.

Charlie Nutt: I think he said things that needed to be said. I think he said things that made us all think, that made us all realize that it's our obligation to always be sure that students are treated fairly and students are treated in a way that makes them all feel successful. I loved his whole concept of being sure students know they belong.

Charlie Nutt: But even more importantly was the whole concept of micro affirmations and how if we can focus on micro affirmations every single day, we are less likely to have microaggressions occur. It's been very exciting to see the sessions, to see the. The excitement. But I really do think one of the things that always excites me about all the conferences, but in some ways this one has seemed even more has been the real culture of family and the culture of we are all part of the same group.

Charlie Nutt: We're also [00:38:00] part of the same family of folks who are here because we love students, but even more so that we love our association. I think we all go to meetings, we all go to associations that we simply go to sessions and we leave. And that's kind of it. Here, it's a. Seeing each other, hugging each other, being a part of that NACADA family is so important to what we do and what we look at.

Charlie Nutt: Those are my highlights. Matt. 

Matt Markin: I would 100% agree with all of that. So with attendees being here, going to all these sessions, getting all this knowledge, information, and getting to network and meet others, what are some takeaways that you hope attendees get out of this conference, and what could they do when they go back to their institutions?

Charlie Nutt: I think there's three things. Number one, of course, take back to your institutions what you've learned. For so many campuses, people come to conferences and they've got, [00:39:00] notes and folders and all of these things they've gotten, and then the world hits, all the emails you didn't answer were there all the students you didn't see?

Charlie Nutt: Are there all the phone calls you needed to return? Are there go back and really think about what are just three things that you could implement and then I'm i'm so serious about this and that is someone on your campus recommended or approved for you to be here? Write that person a note. Don't email.

Charlie Nutt: Go back to the old fashioned pen to paper. Write that person a note thanking them for allowing you to come and saying to them, here are three things I learned that could really improve the student experience on our campus for our students to know they belong and that they're going to be successful.

Charlie Nutt: And then the very last piece is taking Akata family home. All of those people on your campus who are not [00:40:00] part of this family, you ought to bring them into this family. It's member to member. That helps our association become stronger. So go back and encourage folks to get involved. Take them with you to a state meeting, take them with you to a region meeting.

Charlie Nutt: Bring them to, to Puerto Rico next year. Take them to Greece for our international conference. But it's only through your work on your own campuses that's gonna keep Nakada growing and expanding for the next 40 years. This is our 40th year anniversary and I'm very excited about that. But I'm really looking at where do we wanna be in 40 years, and that's dependent upon you members.

Charlie Nutt: It's not dependent upon the president. It's not dependent upon the executive director. It's dependent upon all of you out there who are members of the association. You really matter. You belong. You're part of this family, and I just encourage you to take that to heart. 

Matt Markin: [00:41:00] Wonderful advice. And you talk about NACADA family.

Matt Markin: I don't know if I ever told you my Casey self story. So 2015 I co-presented with my now boss ed Mendoza, which shout out to him for letting me attend the conference. Thank you. But we did a poster session and for Vegas, they had a Twitter competition to promote your session. And we happened to win that one, the most creative tweet and we won lunch with Casey.

Matt Markin: Now being a newer member, I didn't know who Casey was at the time, but having lunch with him, found out past president, all everything that he's done within the organization. And he told me, if you ever need anything, let him know. So a couple years go by, I'm on the steering committee for a California collaborative conference and we were looking for a keynote speaker and we couldn't decide on one.

Matt Markin: So I brought up Casey's name and they said can you go and reach out to him? Didn't know if he still knew who I was. Sent him an email and said, I don't know if you remember me, but can you would you be interested to being our keynote speaker? He said, of course, I remember you. [00:42:00] And yes, I'll do it.

Matt Markin: When is it? So I give him the dates and then he tells me that he has some other commitments, but to give him a day, he end up rearranging a schedule to be the keynote speaker for our California collaborative. So he kept his word and he's been an amazing person a mentor as well. And so NACADA family is for sure a thing here in this organization, and I know you have a busy schedule, so we'll let you get back to it.

Matt Markin: But Charlie, thank you so much. 

Colum Cronin: Thank you. Thank you, Matt. I really believe that, I think Charlie has the ability to bring the best out in people. He sees their qualities and he. Moves the roadblocks out of their way to allow them to shine. And I think that is a beautiful thing in a leader, and I think it is just a phenomenal quality that he possesses.

Colum Cronin: He's just a truly brilliant person. [00:43:00] And I think that, he is always motion, he is perpetual motion. If the world wants to know what perpetual motion is I would put a picture of Charlie not in the dictionary. And I've said it before and I'll say it here on the podcast, when I grow up, I want to be Charlie Nutt.

Colum Cronin: So I think that really brings us pretty much towards the end of today's pilot episode of Adventures in Advising. 

Matt Markin: Perfectly 

Colum Cronin: planned. We just did perfect. We actually went ahead and did it. 

Matt Markin: We just finished our first episode. 

Colum Cronin: Yeah, I'm interested to see where this journey takes us. Thank you very much, ma Markin and thank you to.

Colum Cronin: Our three interviewees today. 

Matt Markin: Hopefully you'll continue to follow and listen to our future podcast. 

Colum Cronin: [00:44:00] Bye-bye.