New England Association

for College Admission Counseling

 

Opening Doors to Higher Education in New England

March 2017

NEACAC eBlast

NEACAC eBlast March 2017

  • Nominations for NEACAC Awards Extended!
  • Vote for NEACAC Leadership
  • Annual NEACAC Career Colloquium
  • Public School Counselor Scholarship to the National Conference in Boston
  • NACAC College Fairs
  • Scholarship Opportunity: NEACAC’s Annual Essay Contest for High School Juniors and Seniors
  • Scholarship Opportunity: Milton Fisher Scholarship
  • School Counselors -- Interested in Leadership Development? The Rising Leaders Program Needs You!
  • AMC Updates
  • NACAC Boston Updates
  • What’s News?

 

                       

VOTE for NEACAC Leadership!

Share your voice and vote for the leadership of your organization.  Vote for President Elect; five assembly delegates from the college side and three delegates from the secondary side. Voting began on March 1, 2017 and runs until March 31, 2017.

Log-in to www.neacac.org and go to “Latest News” on the right & click on “VOTE is open” to access the NEACAC 2017 Ballot.

Nominations for NEACAC Awards Extended!

Our lives are very busy, I ask you to take a few moments to nominate a colleague for one of our awards. We are extending the deadline to Tuesday, March 14, 2017 to allow you to show your appreciation to one of our own.  The categories are Professional of the Year, The William Neal Award, the Rising Star Award and the NEACAC IDEA Award.  These are listed under awards and grants on the website.  You may nominate there.

 

Annual NEACAC Career Colloquium

NEACAC’s annual Career Colloquium will be held Wednesday, March 22nd at Boston College. Open to those finishing a graduate degree program in counseling or higher education administration, working as a student in an admissions office, or interested in a job in college admission or school counseling, the Colloquium will feature seasoned admission and college counseling professionals discussing careers in admissions and school counseling and opportunities for resume reviews. You can register for the event here.

Please contact Kayte Hager ([email protected]) or Erin Brandt ([email protected]) with any questions or if you are interested in volunteering at the event.

College Fair

NACAC College Fairs

It's NACAC College Fair Season!  Hold the dates for April 3 (Springfield - Eastern States Exposition 9:00-11:30 and 6:30-8:30), April 6 (Hartford - Connecticut Convention Center 9-11:30 and 6:30-8:30 Thursday and 9-11:30 Friday), May 7-8 (Boston - Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, 2:00-5:00 Sunday at 8:30-12:30 Monday) and May 8 (Providence - Rhode Island Convention Center, 5:30-8:30PM). Please visit nacacfairs.org for the list of colleges attending and other specific details.  Sponsored by the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) and hosted by the New England Association for College Admission Counseling (NEACAC), these events are free and open to the public.

Lead Retrieval Service:

Requesting information from multiple colleges/universities at the National College Fairs is now a whole lot easier. Students who register and bring their bar-coded printout with them to the Fair will not have to fill out information cards on site! Registration will be available on-site but to avoid any delays students are encouraged to register online before arriving.  Please direct your students to the following website to register in advance for the fair: http://www.gotomyncf.com. There is also the capability of registering via a smart phone and using the bar code directly from a smart phone to be scanned at the college tables, eliminating the need for the paper bar code.

 Additional information about Boston:

Many high schools choose to send busses of students to the fair, and we hope this trend will continue. This year, the dates of the fair are not ideal, as the second day conflicts with AP exams. The Local Arrangements Committee worked hard to secure dates that would not present this conflict, but the decision made was based on space availability for the fair and was beyond the control of NACAC and the planning committee. The Committee hopes that students taking AP exams on Monday may attend the fair on Sunday afternoon. Please inform students unable to attend the fair of the NEACAC spring college fair schedule http://www.neacac.org/spring-fair-schedule.  There will be another National College Fair hosted in Boston in September, 2017. If you have any questions about the fair, please see 2017 Boston National College Fair , or email Jeanne Aversa at Suffolk University, or Alicia Linsey at Lexington High School. 



School Counselors -- Interested in Leadership Development? The Rising Leaders Program Needs You!

Redesigned Program for 2017

Plans are underway for the 2017 Rising Leaders Program which will kick-off at the University of Southern Maine on June 26-28. While we received a great response from college admission counselors, we still have several slots for school counselors in the program.  

 You can learn more about Rising Leaders at http://www.neacac.org/rising-leaders-program

 If you have an interest in this special (and free, complements of NEACAC funding if you are selected) leadership program, please email the Rising Leaders Program chair Jon Henry, [email protected], (207-941-720).  

Essay Contest

Scholarship Opportunity: NEACAC’s Annual Essay Contest for High School Juniors and Seniors


Secondary School Counselors, please encourage your high school juniors and seniors to submit an essay for NEACAC’s Annual Essay Contest. Students from NEACAC-member high schools in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont are invited to submit a 500-word essay on the following topic:

Describe a counselor, teacher, or coach who has had the greatest influence on your decision to attend college. How has this individual impacted your future? What will you do in college or beyond that will make a difference in your community?

There will be six winners – one from each of the New England States – who will each be awarded a $1000 Scholarship. The application for the Essay Contest for 2017 is now open and will be available through April 8, 2017. More information and the contest application will be found online at:  http://www.neacac.org/essay-contest-information-application

Questions? Contact [email protected].

 

Public School Counselor Scholarship to the National Conference in Boston

NEACAC has received a NACAC grant to underwrite the fees and other costs of public school counselor attendance at the National Conference in Boston, Sept. 12-16, 2017.  NEACAC is also contributing to this fund so we can support one counselor from each state in our region. Take advantage of this great opportunity and complete the application here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GrantBoston.  Applications close April 15th.

Scholarship Opportunity: Milton Fisher Scholarship

The Milton Fisher Scholarship is an opportunity for innovative and creative students to be awarded up to $5,000 a year for four years. Application deadline is April 30, 2017. 

Go to http://rbffoundation.org/ for more information.

AMC Updates

Annual Meeting & Conference Registration is Now Open!

 Registration for the 2017 Annual Meeting & Conference, on May 31-June 2 at Keene State College, officially opened with Early Bird pricing on March 1.  Beginning April 1, regular pricing will go into effect. For more information about the 2017 conference, please visithttp://www.neacac.org/annual-meeting or contact Diane Soboski, AMC Chair, at [email protected].  Register early to lock in Early Bird pricing!

 

Session Proposal Update:

The Programming Committee received 140 session proposals this year, which is by far a conference record!  Thanks to all who took the time to organize and submit your proposals.  Given the significant increase in submissions, the Programming Committee was faced with the tough task of selecting under 50% of the session proposals received.  

We want to thank everyone who submitted a proposal, as the breadth and quality of topics was exceptional.  In many cases, we were forced to turn down what would have been great additions to the conference, as we are limited by time and space. There is clearly a lot to explore and discuss at Keene State!!

Pre-Conference Sessions:

Pre-conference sessions can be a fantastic way to offer cost-effective and targeted professional development to your team members. Topics this year for college recruiters include data driven travel planning and the middle management workshop. Specifically, for school counselors we are hosting a technology workshop to better understand forms such as the Coalition and Common Applications, FAFSA and CSS Profile. Both sides of desk can benefit from our fourth session focused around public speaking and communication skills.

Refer a colleague and you will be entered into a drawing to win a $50 Amazon Gift Card. The attendee simply needs to list your name when they register. All four pre-conference sessions will take place on Wednesday, May 31 from9am-1pm.  They can be added onto a full conference registration or attended as a stand-alone program.

Social Programming:

We are looking for a certified yoga instructor and a certified spin instructor to teach fitness classes during this year’s Annual Meeting and Conference! This is a great way to get involved in NEACAC and share your passion and talent with your colleagues. Please email Courtney Kipp ([email protected]) or Bill Hughen ([email protected]) to learn more.

Secondary School Counselors:

Calling all school counselors! Are you planning to attend the NEACAC AMC this June? If so, we invite you to consider joining us for the FREE school counselor luncheon taking place on Thursday, June 1st. During the lunch session (12:00pm-1:30pm), you will have the opportunity to hear from a panel of seasoned admission professionals about hot topics in the changing admission landscape. This is a perfect opportunity for school counselors to gain inside perspective on the experiences of our colleagues from the “other side”!

Registration for the secondary school counselor lunch is not required, although we encourage you to indicate your interest by checking off that box while completing your AMC registration.

Who will collect the most Toiletries?

The Community Service Committee challenges each admission and counseling office to band together to collect unused toiletries that can be donated to a local community-based organization in Cheshire County, NH.  The office with the largest donation will receive not only bragging rights, but also a fantastic prize. Good luck and happy collecting!

Apply to be a Newcomers Mentor!

This is the perfect volunteer opportunity for those interested in becoming more involved at the Annual Meeting & Conference! There is still time to apply to be a newcomers mentor to help guide your colleagues through their first conference!

If you have attended at least one NEACAC conference, we encourage you to submit your application to be a newcomers mentor*!  Please complete the Mentor Application by Friday, April 21, 2017. 

If you know someone who would make a great mentor, please nominate them here!

For questions or concerns, please reach out to either Steve Genovese ([email protected]) or Heidi Merrill ([email protected]), chairs of the AMC Newcomers program.  

*All mentors should plan to attend the full conference.

Volunteers

During the AMC there are numerous volunteer opportunities and we want you!  If you are interested in volunteering, please e-mail this year's AMC Volunteer Coordinator, Bill Jack, at [email protected].  As the conference approaches, we will reach out to you with details on the specific volunteer opportunities so that you may sign up for the slot(s) that are of interest to you.

 

NACAC Boston 2017 Update

NACAC Boston Volunteer Sign-up Form is live 

NACAC Boston Registration Opens March 28th

We ask you consider volunteering as part of NACAC's National Conference 2017 in Boston! Click here to learn more.  

Conference registration opens March 28th.   NACAC requires people interested in volunteering register for at least one day of the conference to serve.  Please contact [email protected] with any questions. Look out for National Conference updates in the months ahead!  Thanks for your time and consideration.  

HOST A COLLEGE TOUR BEFORE THE NACAC CONFERENCE!

The deadline is approaching to request to host a college tour!  Post-secondary institutions in New England should fill out the form by March 10th.  Whether it be for a partial day, a full day, or several days, alone or with a group or as a consortium, the College Tour Coordinators Jeff McAdam (Kents Hill School) and Sherri Geller (Gann Academy) are ready to help you have a great tour experience for counselors across the world.  NACAC will promote the College Tours on the Conference Registration page to encourage as much participation as possible. Tours can begin on Sunday morning, September 10th; participants must be able to return to the Convention Center by noon on September 14th.  Want to showcase your school?  Please visit http://tinyurl.com/NACACtours17, and find helpful hints in  the attached letter.

 What's New? New Hire? Promotion? Awards? Let us know at [email protected]

Danny Barr has started working as the Senior Associate Director of Undergraduate Admissions at UMass-Boston. Danny was previously the Director of College Counseling at Innovation Academy Charter School.

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