Attending the MIDWest Conference in Wisconsin was an experience that reminded me why professional development opportunities are so important in admissions counseling. Between the sessions I was able to enjoy networking opportunities and time to connect with other counselors I see on the road. I was also able to spend time reflecting on my career and new ways to keep it interesting. Following the conference, I left feeling energized, inspired, and excited to bring new ideas back to campus! Here are just a few of the many reasons why I would encourage others to attend a future conference.

After the Spring Conference is the perfect time to join an Iowa ACAC committee or learn more about what each one does. However, we welcome  new committee members any time. Our Executive Board uses the summer to plan for upcoming events and professional development opportunities during the academic year and continues meeting throughout the year to complete tasks.

Real Experiences From Admissions Professionals

NACAC Conference - the best and busiest 3-day conference for any admission professional. It’s a combination of new learning, hope for the future, and friendships to last a lifetime.

It was another successful RIDE in June, as school counselors and CCTCs took time out of their early summer to "Rediscover Iowa's Diverse Education!" 

How do I describe the RIDE? I moved to Iowa 7 years ago from the beautiful State of Hawaii. The first question students asked me was “Why” and the second question after I sat down with them to do their career planning was “What’s this college or that college like?”

Working in College Admissions for the past 14 years has been incredibly rewarding in so many ways. Yes, we face burnout, spend a lot of time on the road, and put in extra hours—often for less-than-ideal pay. However, I believe in the work we do, I see the impact we have on students, and I never wake up dreading my job. For me, that is a true blessing.

Spring is just around the corner, and you know what that means—it's almost time for the Iowa ACAC Conference!

The 2025 conference planning team is hard at work, and we're buzzing with excitement about creating an unforgettable experience for all attendees. As the chair of this amazing team, I’d like to personally invite you to join us at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa this coming May for what promises to be an inspiring and fun-filled event: “Bridging Together in Higher Education”.

As the Admission Professional of the Year recipient, I was given the opportunity to attend this year’s NACAC conference in Los Angeles. While the schedule was very robust with lots of awesome sessions and events, it was a bit overwhelming. Reading all the options and coming up with my game plan felt a bit like cramming for a test. I’ve made some cliff notes (does anyone even use these anymore?) so you won’t need to cram for a NACAC conference in the future.

• Step 1, open your NACAC emails.
• Step 2, actually read said emails. No really, pre-conference emails have a wealth of information, and it helps to look at your options in snippets and come back to it often.
• Utilize the conference app. It allowed me to filter sessions specific to the content I wanted to learn about and build my own schedule. It also sent me reminders of the things I was most interested in doing.
• Don’t be afraid to walk out of a session- Yes, I just encouraged you to leave but for good reason! There are many things happening at the same time such as sessions, learning labs etc. I found myself wanting to attend multiple things and since I was flying solo, I cut out early to make it to everything on my list.
• Take the initiative to introduce yourself to someone new. I promise, the benefits far outweigh the fear of talking to strangers! I met two counselors from Vancouver Island, Canada, we had invigorating conversations that branched outside of just ‘work talk’ and now it’s on my travel bucket list. You should Google it; this place is like visiting Europe without flying over an ocean to get there.
• If you’re invited to an after party (most are hosted by sponsors/exhibitors), go! While these events are not hosted or sponsored by NACAC, they are another great way to network and have fun and, let’s be honest, having fun with our colleagues is icing on the conference cake!
• 

On the morning of May 14, 2024, I was a little preoccupied with my 28^th birthday coming at me quickly. Reviewing my work inbox, I read a subject “Re: Iowa ACAC – Congrats!”. My IT department has put me through lots of training on what to do with spam. So, my first thought was to do some research on what this ‘ACAC’ acronym is. My research concluded that the Iowa ACAC was pretty legit and the conference seemed real. The email even referenced making a social media post! Although, for some reason, I made the executive decision that it made more sense for this to be spam, and I ended up deleting the email. A weekend passed, and one day my supervisor, Dana Chrisman, eventually gathered all of my fellow admissions office mates and congratulated me. Dana explained that a counselor I had worked with had written the most thoughtful recommendation about my visit at one of her high schools.

"Hello from the outside
At least I can say that I've tried
To tell you I'm sorry for breaking your heart"
Adele really hit me with the feels while I started writing and made it so fitting to share a verse. The other side is almost what we would imagine as recruiters, schedules, emotions, schedules, and future planning. 

On a wintery Iowa day, I attended the virtual Iowa ACAC Winter session of Admissions Counselor University (ACU). During this session, we covered ethics, territory management, building connections, and communicating with gen z. Toward the end of our meeting, we were joined by a great panel of high school counselors and career advisors who provided insight on best practices when talking with students and visiting schools.

Has your admissions office recently hired new admissions professionals this semester? Are you looking for a way to refresh your basic knowledge on college admissions, tips for the travel season, or admissions best practices? If you answered yes to either of those questions, then you need to keep reading!

The Professional Development and Practices Committee is excited to provide you with the latest updates from our committee and a few essential details about what’s to come this year from our area!

I felt that everyone at ACU was really nice and it felt like they wanted us to be successful. In the Building Bridges chat, I thought that the “selling points” activity was nice to see what all the different schools had to offer and some of the similarities that we had, especially to other small private schools. I really liked the speed dating activity that we did, I do wish that we could have been more spread out. I felt like I was shouting to talk to the person across from me, and I had a lot of trouble hearing what they had to say. I also feel like spreading out the reps that were from the same school would be helpful, that way we can hear from multiple different schools.

Despite 100 degree temperatures, 2023 ACU attendees powered through their curriculum, listened and engaged in the phenomenal presentations by our “professors,” and made ACU 2023 an event to remember. 

Happy New Year! I know, there aren’t fireworks, champagne or silly hats and glasses, but it’s just as important for us in education.

Let’s start counting down the days! In just a few short weeks, we will all be together in person for the 2022 MIDWest ACAC Conference in Eagan, MN! The last time we all had the chance to be together was at the 2019 Iowa ACAC Conference at Prairie Meadows in Altoona. We made the best of things in 2020 with a virtual conference (thanks to our wonderful Past President, Tom Paulsen), and tried again in 2021 with a virtual MIDWest Conference (shout out to the excellent Wisconsin ACAC team for planning), but I know that I have really missed the in-person conference experience for the past two years. With all of the disruptions caused by the pandemic, we’ll have more first-time conference-goers than ever before, so as your current Iowa ACAC Conference Planning Chair, I wanted to share some thoughts and advice to help you make the most of your MIDWest ACAC experience!