Message from the NJACAC President
Haaaay NJACAC!
Happy New Year!!! I can’t believe how fast this academic year is flying and that we are almost at the halfway point! Please take a few moments to review this month’s message which highlights some key updates and important information. At the end of the message in the Attitude of Gratitude section, I invite and welcome your participation!
NJACAC24 Conference Updates
The NJACAC Conference will take place on May 20-21, 2024 at Harrah’s in Atlantic City with the theme, The Crossroads of Counseling.” This year's conference will be a dynamic platform for professionals to explore crucial topics like Affordability, Education Policy, Access, Mental Health & Wellbeing, AI & Emerging Technologies, Direct Admission, Test-optional Policies, and much more!
If you are interested in submitting a session proposal you can CLICK HERE. We hope to have a range of voices represented and a wide range of issues to be explored.
This year we will be hosting a SCHOOL COUNSELOR SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP MEETING on Sunday May 19th, right before our conference fundraiser to encourage all School Counselors to join us for an extra night of networking and professional growth. Additionally, we are bringing back a CONFERENCE COLLEGE FAIR–more details to follow! Please note, we have submitted an overnight travel waiver request to the NJ Department of Education and hope to hear back relatively soon (fingers crossed).
Be on the lookout for sponsorship opportunities!
Upcoming PD Workshops
Our PD Chairs are finalizing a lineup of virtual and in-person workshops for the remainder of the academic year. We will have dates solidified in the coming weeks but here is a teaser of some of the topics in the pipeline:
Day in the Life of a Learning Disability Consultant
Day in the Life of a Regional Recruiter
NCAA 101 for School Counselors
All about HBCUs
Spring College Fairs Registration IS NOW LIVE
College can now CLICK HERE to register for any of our NJACAC Spring Regional College Fairs. Also, as High Schools consider their Spring Fair dates, please refer to our COLLEGE FAIR LIST to ensure yours does not conflict with another fair.
2024-2027 Strategic Plan
On January 20th, our Executive Board will be convening to finalize our new 3 year Strategic Plan. This process began at our Summer retreat in August and I look forward to sharing the plan with you in the coming months. The values that we hope to encapsulate in the plan include:
Transparent and consistent communication
Engaging Membership
Integration of DEI principles in all NJACAC matters
Lifelong learning
Fiscal Responsibility
NACAC National College Fair in New Jersey
This year’s event will be held on March 6th at the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center in Edison, NJ from 9am-12pm and 5:30pm-8:30pm. Please CLICK HERE for registration information. If you are interested in volunteering as a member of our National College Fair committee please contact our co-chairs at: nationalcollegefairs@njacac.org.
NACAC’s Guiding the Way to Inclusion Conference
This year's GWI will be held in New Orleans from July 30th-August 1st. NACAC is accepting proposals that focus on multicultural recruitment, campus inclusion, and other DEI topics pertinent to secondary, postsecondary, CBO college admission/counseling professionals. If you are interested in submitting a proposal please CLICK HERE for more information. The deadline is February 12th.
Attitude of Gratitude
This month, I invite you to submit the name of a professional colleague for whom you are grateful by CLICKING HERE. Let’s shout each other out and let our community members know what they mean to us! Of course you can express your gratitude for a member of your team, but I challenge you to also think about members from “another side of the desk” as well. Taking time to engage in a moment of gratitude can be wonderfully centering and boost your “feel good” neurotransmitters.
I look forward to sharing some of these shout outs with you in my future monthly messages.
In gratitude,
Randy Stamm
School Counselor, Hackensack High School
NJACAC President (23-24)