The upcoming AAA Conference, held at the Nebraska East Union on Wednesday, February 21, 2018, will inspire and motivate advisors and student affairs professionals to think about strategies and ways to promote building bridges in the midst of social, political, and cultural unrest. As academic advisors and student affairs professionals, we are at the front lines of how this unrest manifests in students' experiences on our college and university campuses. We have a responsibility to advocate for marginalized and vulnerable students on whom the strain of these times rests the most heavily. Rather than living out of fear of the ‘other,’ we challenge and seek to empower our students to press into difficult dialogues with people who have widely ranging viewpoints. Are traditional advising models and student development theory sufficient to address these concerns? What resources, skills and, knowledge do our students need to persist and thrive in the future? How can we support our own professional growth in the face of increasing student loads, new responsibilities, and decreasing budgets? The work of this conference is to begin to discuss and formulate responses to these difficult questions.
Conference registration information will be available early January 2018. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the conference co-chairs: Emira Ibrahimpašić (emira@unl.edu 402.472.2150) or Marybeth Helmink (mbhelmink@unl.edu 402.472.3121)
More details at: https://aaa.unl.edu/2018-aaa-conference-0