Reflections from our 7th President – Tim Harding

As I sat looking out my window watching a snow fall, I reflected on the past several months of working with a group of dedicated and innovative SoACE board members who had committed themselves to re-thinking each of their areas of responsibility with an eye to enhancing relevance and expanding services for an association that we all highly valued.

Tim Harding & Jay Killough at “Snow-ACE”

But wait . . . some of you may know that I live in Tampa, FL, so how could it be that I was watching a snowfall? Had climate change really impacted us so much that it was snowing in Tampa? While it has happened in the past, the fact is I was sitting in my Chantilly, VA hotel room getting ready for our annual conference that would infamously become known as “SNOW-ACE”!

Tim Harding & Jay Killough at “SnowACE”Our numbers for that conference suffered from the many flight delays and cancellations, road closures, and other transportation headaches resulting from a winter storm that snarled travel from Texas to Virginia and everywhere in between. In the true SNOW-ACE…I mean, SoACE spirit, we forged on making adjustments to the breakout schedule, presentations, and events. We sorely missed our stranded colleagues, but those who did attend made the best of the conference and experienced the same high quality professional development experience to which we are accustomed. They even made light of the situation with one creative member, who is still unknown to me, christening the conference as SNOW-ACE.

That same committed spirit that made the best of a challenging situation is consistent with all of my SoACE experiences, and it is what drew me to volunteer and continue to serve in whatever capacity I can to support and promote an association of colleagues who have made such a difference in my life, both professionally and personally. The association’s work has been fun, challenging, fulfilling, and ALWAYS worth the experience. I can say, without reservation, that I have learned far more from my SoACE experience than I have been able to give.

The SoACE boards on which I was honored to serve worked hard to:

  • Expand the professional development offerings beyond the annual conference to year-round offerings;
  • Reaffirm our commitment to diversity and created two association awards to recognize both individuals and organizations who actively demonstrated that commitment in their work;
  • Recognize individual’s creativity within our association by creating an annual “Imaginative Spirit Award”; and
  • Grow the membership recognizing the changing trends of our profession and blending of departments within colleges and universities.

While all of these realized goals are rewarding, the friendships and sense of family developed in working with the dedicated SoACE members are the most rewarding. It has been a few years since I served on a SoACE board, but those special relationships remain strong. If there is such a thing as a “professional family”, I found that in my beloved SoACE colleagues.

SoACE Kudos: June 2017 Edition

Scott Maynard, Mississippi State University

After 22 years in career services and 29 years at MSU, congratulations to Scott on his retirement! Thank you, Scott, for all you have done for the field of career services, and your service to SACE and SoACE.

Heidi Thuesen, Virginia Tech Career and Professional Development

An outstanding new professional who is a strong team player, has exceptional organizational skills, a passion for the career field, and is an ALL AROUND GREAT PERSON. Kudos to Heidi!

Kertesha Riley, University of Tennessee Center for Career Development

Kudos to a fantastic career consultant who created outstanding programming last year – and is preparing to begin her PhD in the fall! You are a rock star – you’ve already done so much good, can’t wait to see all that is to come!

Clint Careens, Communication Career Services/UT Austin

For having been in CCS only three months, Clint has done a tremendous job climbing the new employee learning curve, which can be quite challenging when coming to a large university like UT. His insight and input thus far has been a tremendous asset for our office and we all appreciate his dry sense of humor. Thanks, Clint!

Jessica Harrington, Arkansas State – Career Services

Jessica is always willing to assist me in the office whenever I need help! I appreciate coming to work with her every day and value her support.

Tiffany Johnson, Arkansas State – Career Services

Shout out to Tiffany for becoming the Secretary for AACE!

Jill Boatright, Loyola University New Orleans

Great job to your and your team, Jill, for another great ER Summit!

Jill Boatright, Loyola University New Orleans

Kudos, Jill, for planning a fantastic ER Summit!

Danielle Golinski, Elon University

Mad props to Danielle for hosting a great Strengths Quest workshop. It was well-run and very informative. Great job organizing!

Career Services Team, The University of Tampa

Congrats on a successful year and thanks for all your hard work. Awesome colleagues who lead the way for our students!!

Tim Harding, The University of Tampa

Congrats on being named to the NACE Board!! Well deserved.

Dr. Kate Brooks, Vanderbilt University

For delivering an awesome keynote address at the SoACE Employer Relations Summit!

SoACE Employer Relations Summit Planning Team

Kudos to the 2017 SoACE Employer Relations Summit Planning Team for their hard work and for putting on the best ER Summit yet!

SoACE 2017 Employer Relations Summit Team

Congratulations to the SoACE 2017 Employer Relations Summit Team for a successful meeting in June. With your efforts we were able to “stay in tune” in Nashville. Thank you! Jill Boatright, Loyola University, Chair, La’Endia Buchanan, Belmont University, Annie Cutler, Trinity University, Bethany Ferrall, Texas A&M University-Commerce, Co-Chair, Bevley Green, University of South Alabama, Rochelle Harris, University of North Texas, Jennie Marchal, Vanderbilt University, Kim Satz, Texas Christian University, Stephanie Stuckey, University of South Carolina, Special thanks to Corinne Earle, CMC Global, for all her support for this event.

Bill Blank, UCF

Congratulations to Bill Blank at the University of Central Florida for receiving the FloridaACE President’s Award alongside Stacy Lanigan from Lynn University for their many above and beyond contributions over the past year to FloridaACE.

Melanie Brown, University of Central Florida

Congratulations to Melanie Brown at the University of Central Florida for receiving the FloridaACE New Member Award for sharing her graphic design talents with the organization over the past two years.

Julia Ruddock, The University of Tampa

Congratulations to Julia Ruddock from The University of Tampa for receiving the Colleges of Central Florida Career Consortium (CCFCC) Member of the Year Award. Julia was selected because of her tireless efforts in planning the annual CCFCC Career Expo.

Cathy Green, Mississippi State University Career Center

Cathy is the person you want at the front desk, welcoming your students and employers.  She is sweet, kind, and doesn’t think twice about giving anything she has to help someone in need.  Thanks, Cathy, for being such a great example of service.

FloridaACE

Great job to everyone who is associated with FloridaACE! It was another amazing conference!

 

Congratulations to our 2017 SoACE Professional Development Scholarship Winners!

Stacy Shields
Donna Srader
Valerie Kielmovitch Mandel

Each year, SoACE offers scholarships to our career service professionals and employer members. These scholarships provide a maximum of $1500 for a professional development program, event, certification, resources, or tuition toward the activity of the recipient’s choice. This year we had a strong pool of applicants and enjoyed reading about all of the opportunities our SoACE members have to continue growing and learning. Typically, we award two scholarships each May. However, this year we are fortunate to fully fund two requests and partially fund a third.

Congratulations to this year’s recipients:

Valerie Kielmovitch Mandel, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Donna Srader, Texas Tech University

Stacy Shields, University of Houston- Clear Lake

Stay tuned and later this summer, we will hear more from our recipients about the exciting opportunities that resulted from this year’s scholarships!