I was fortunate enough to attend my first NACAC conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was easily one of the best professional development opportunities I have had. As a new attendee, I wanted to provide others, who may potentially have an opportunity to attend NACAC in the future, with some tips to make the most of your experience.

As we travel the state of Iowa recruiting students this fall, it’s important to be aware of other resources that can help students and families navigate the college search process. One resource that we can reference students and families to is ICAN, a nonprofit that provides college and career planning and financial aid resources to students and schools across the state of Iowa. Formerly known as the Iowa College Access Network, the organization has changed its name this year, along with changing some of their programming to better serve students and school counselors. In addition to focusing on financial aid and college planning, the organization will also focus on professional development for school counselors and educators. ICAN’s Director of Communications, Britt Morey, shares more about the organizations changes:

Although travel season is winding down, we know some of you road warriors might still have a few trips left on your calendar. If you are out and about traveling around our beautiful state for work, or for fun, consider making a stop at some of these hidden gems! Happy trails!

If its fall, most of us are busy with college fairs, school visits, campus visits, travel itineraries, applications, and endless emails. It’s hard to find a day when the entire staff is in the office at the same time.

Now let me say a disclaimer, THIS IS NOT SIMPLY THE CULTURE OF MY OFFICE or THE CULTURE OF MY INSTITUTION, IT IS THE CULTURE OF AMERICA! THIS IS A COMMON EXPERIENCE OF PEOPLE OF COLOR NATIONWIDE!

School Guidance Counselor - The American School Counselor Association (ASCA), in conjunction with NACAC, recently published a report that shows school counselors in Iowa average 418 students on their caseload, but we all know school counselors with many more students!

Iowa ACAC is excited to have hosted its first ever Colleges to Counselors (C2C) event on September 6 at Drake University. In total, we had 37 colleges and other organizations present information to an audience of 27 high school counselors. 

As an undergraduate I, like many students, had various interests, but was unsure of my career path. In a Personnel Psychology course one of my best college instructors, David Whitsett (now an Emeritus Faculty Professor at UNI), continually encouraged our class to find a career in which we had a passion. Financial security was important, but job satisfaction was critical to being happy and having a meaningful life.

It’s not exactly an obsession, but I love to keep those little hotel shampoos and soaps. I’ve been known to request extras. There. I’ve said it.

Iowa ACAC is excited to announce the first ever Colleges to Counselors (C2C) Events coming for the 2018-2019 school year!

Whether your daily work is on the high school side or the college side, summer is the ideal time to look back and reflect on what work strategies were effective and which tactics could use some fine tuning. Staff retreats are no different; it’s important to make time to escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life to look back on the past year, while keeping an eye toward the future. Your Iowa ACAC Executive Board held their annual retreat on August 6 and 7 at The Hotel at Kirkwood Center. We welcomed 8 new Committee Chairs and Co-Chairs, while saying "farewell" to 5 valued committee chairs who rolled off the Board. 

I find myself telling students “don’t look for colleges the way I did” all the time. I was the student that did well in school, did not flinch at acceptance criteria, did not explore the options and just followed her sister to school without even talking to a counselor or scheduling a visit. I am so thankful that I got lucky enough to love the institution I enrolled at – so much that they sucked me back in as an admission counselor.

Each year, the state of Iowa accepts several hundred refugees from countries around the world.

The 2018 R.I.D.E. is in the books, and what a successful experience it was! Thirty-one professional school counselors from every corner of Iowa, and even a special guest from Minnesota, took some time for some “college knowledge” by participating in Iowa ACAC’s 15th annual three-day learning trek.

A school counselor’s perspective...

Subtitled: How to keep your Iowa ACAC Executive Assistant happy!

Campuses have been hosting events and visits for as long as most of us can remember. But, just because your institution’s visits and events have always looked a certain way, is that the way they need to stay?

Thank you to all the Iowa ACAC members who made it to Dubuque for the 2018 MIDWest Conference! Around 400 admissions professionals from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and the Dakotas attended, making it a great opportunity to learn, network, and have a little fun!