2013 Annual NACADA Conference Reflection: Using Wikis As A Training Tool by Elizabeth Archuleta

I'm a fan of technology, and I love to learn about new apps or software that will help me at home or at work. Based on this interest, I attended several technology sessions at NACADA. At one session, Brandeis University advisors shared their experience using wikis as an academic advising tool in "More Than a Training Manual: Using Wikis to Get Everyone on the Same Page." 

Attendees were given a chronological view of their processes in setting up a wiki training manual, their reasons for starting one, the pros and cons of going paperless, the skills/resources they needed to start, the ins and outs of launching and running their wiki, and the evolution of their own wiki training manual. The biggest reason for creating a wiki training manual is that it becomes a tool for training new advisors. An already established training manual becomes invaluable to new advisors. Even after new advisor training takes place, there will inevitably be procedural and policy changes that take place, unique situations that arise, and questions about where to locate needed information. A wiki becomes a clearinghouse for information that can easily be updated by anyone given access to administrative functions.

NACADA Scholarship recipients

Congratulations to our recipients of the NACADA Annual Conference Scholarships.

Rachel Osterman

Elizabeth Archuleta 

Jill Wilson

(Not pictured)

Kelly Olson

Tivra Marks

Each recipient shared with the selection committee a plan for attending the conference to glean relevant information and shared the impact this conference will have on their ability to support student success through advising.  

Congratulations also to Gina Shipley for receiving a NACADA scholarship for her attendance to the UAAC NACADA Prep Workshop Series. 

New Advisor Spotlight: Elizabeth Archuleta

Enjoy an introduction to one of the newest advisors on campus:

In July 2011, the Board of Regents approved the Ethnic Studies major. In August 2013, Ethnic Studies hired its first Academic Advisor to assist students. Her name is Elizabeth Archuleta—that's me! I was born and raised in Salt Lake City, UT.  I moved away in 1994 to attend graduate school at Pennsylvania State University and received my Ph.D. In English in 2002.