NACAC - Spring 2020 - 11

CREATING A SIG

ENGAGING WITH YOUR COLLEAGUES
By Ashley Dobson

NACAC's SIGs Continue to Grow
NACAC Special Interest Groups (SIGs) nurture
the growing diversity in our association by
providing "micro" communities within which
members can network and add value to their
NACAC membership experience.
SIGs can be created around a variety of
different interests, ranging from identity to
institution types or students served.
Jill Corbin, director of college and transition
counseling at Denver Academy (CO), said the
idea for the Learning Differences SIG came up
while she was in Boston for the 2017 NACAC
National Conference.
"I was reflecting on the events leading up to
the start of the conference, specifically, bus
tours to Curry College, Dean College, Landmark
College, and Regis College, with my Denver
Academy colleague and eventual SIG co-creator,
Carey Eskesen," she said. "We couldn't seem
to shake the sense of genuine community
experienced among the fellow high school

counselors on the tours. We agreed that it had
been incredibly energizing to connect with
secondary and postsecondary professionals
who counseled diverse learners from all over
the world. The number of high schools in the
US dedicated to serving students with diverse
learning needs is quite small, so it felt like we
were finally meeting our peer group."
Andrew Moe, director of admissions at
Swarthmore College (PA), and Peggy Jenkins,
executive director of Palouse Pathways (ID),
started discussing the creation of a SIG about
rural college access because they were surprised
one didn't exist already.
"Rural students graduate high school at the
highest rates among urban, suburban, and
rural students, yet they attend college at
the lowest rates, and we needed to change
this. Because of this urgent challenge, we
wanted to gather folks in rural high schools,
college admission offices, community-based

organizations serving rural students physically
and virtually, and others with an interest in
rural college access to ensure professionals
were able to connect with one another to
devise strategies to increase college-going
rates among rural and small-town students,"
Moe said.
For David Kamimoto, associate director
of admissions at University of CaliforniaSanta Cruz, creating the Asian American/
Pacific Islander SIG was about necessary
representation within NACAC.
"After attending a NACAC conference years
ago and noticing several Special Interest
Groups that were listed in the program, I
began to wonder why there was not an
Asian American and Pacific Islander SIG. I
was disappointed that this group was not
represented, and I brought the question to
some NACAC staff members I knew," he said.
"They greeted me enthusiastically! They shared
that they wanted to grow the SIGs and needed
people to step up and help launch them."

SPRING 2020

11
NACAC - Spring 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NACAC - Spring 2020
