Congratulations to Senior Academic Advisor Rebecca Hapes as she recently completed the 2016-2018 National Academic Advisors Association’s Emerging Leadership Program Class this October.
Hapes was recognized for completing her role as a mentor during the two-year-long program during an awards of the NACADA annual conference in Phoenix in October.
Hapes was one of 10 academic advisors that were selected internationally to become a mentor to 10 Emerging Leaders, which are advisors that are interested in advancing in leadership within the NACADA organization, engaging in work on committees and moving into other elected positions.
Each mentor helps their partner to develop leadership skills with skill-building activities during the two-year-long course. The partners then go on to fill leadership roles within the organization or serve as mentors to new Emerging Leaders.
The Emerging Leaders program was established to encourage members from diverse groups to get involved in leadership opportunities within the organization and to encourage and assist members of underrepresented populations in the association’s leadership to attend state, regional, or national conferences.
According to the NACADA website, the benefits of being a mentor include collaborating with other members from different institutions, meeting inspirational members interested in contributing to the future of the NACADA, and helping colleagues understand how the organization works, while enriching mentoring skills through participation in a structured program.
“My participation was less about helping me be better at my role and more about helping others succeed so they will, in turn, help their students be even more successful,” Hapes said. “Any time I work with efforts for advisor training, that’s essentially my goal: if I can help advisors improve upon their practice that will allow them to be better at helping the student populations they serve.”