MSUM’s Sannes chairs Annual NACADA conference
Amy Sannes, director of MSUM’s Academic Support Center, recently chaired the annual conference for NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising.
This year’s annual event was held Oct. 8-11 in Minneapolis. In order to attract attendees from across the globe, Juan Reyes, the unit marketing coordinator for MSUM Dining Services, created a “Minnesota Style” video. Check it out here: http://vimeo.com/76700185.
Attendees numbered over 3,100 and came from 13 countries, including: Australia, Canada, Colombia, Grenada, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Kuwait, Lebanon, the Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and United States.
“I was amazed,” Sannes said. “People were telling us it was the best conference they’ve ever been to. Even though there were 3,000 people there, each one of them felt welcome. Quite honestly, it was the most rewarding thing I’ve done in my professional career.”
The conference theme was, “Adventures in Advising: Explore. Discover. Collaborate. Transform.” Sannes said it was a great opportunity to gain recognition for MSUM, as she refered to the university in many of her speeches throughout the week. The university also sponsored a photo booth, where participants donned fuzzy bomber hats and woolen mittens to document their time in Minnesota.
Joanne Damminger, president of NACADA and assistant vice president for student affairs at Delaware Technical Community College, was impressed with the way Sannes and the rest of the committee handled the event.
“Amy and her team put on a fabulous conference,” Damminger said. “She should be very proud of her leadership with them and throughout the conference. And, she did it with a fantastic sense of humor!”