NACA

This past weekend I traveled to Winston-Salem, North Carolina with eight students and my two graduate assistants for the National Association of Campus Activities (NACA) South Regional Conference. I love conferences...all kinds. Love meeting new people, networking, attending educational sessions, etc. Sadly though we did not get to explore Winston-Salem. We did have the chance to eat at two local restuarants. Highly suggest NOMA. It was delicious!!! If you are in Winston-Salem, it would be a crime not to go. Had Kernel Kustard for dessert...popcorn and ice cream...yum! We also went to Foothills. The food was good, but the service was way to slow. Not sure if I would recommend.

Ok, onto the NACA recap. The conference is typically held the first weekend in October. This comes at the end of the first month and a half of classes, tons of events, and four home games in a row. Needless to say, a good excuse to get away, but already tired before we even arrive.

Auburn presented three educational sessions at the conference. Melissa presented to staff on student development theories. Collins and one of our students presented on Basic Programming Skills. I presented with one of our student on Co-sponsorships. All presentations went well. I had planned on finishing the co-sponsorship presentation much earlier than I did. The student that I presented with met several times, but everytime I went to work on putting the information together I was needed by someone else. So, my own needs and that of the presentation got put on the backburner. Thankfully, I finished the powerpoint and we were able to work well together to deliver a great presentation. Whohoo!

This year for NACA Auburn applied for the Board of Excellence Award. We haven't applied for any awards in the past. The selection process was broken down into two parts. The first was written materials. There was a series of questions that we had to answer about UPC. We also had to provide letters of support from staff and students. We had to include budget information, but also added some of our forms (event evaluation and co-sponsorship), as well as promotional materials and publicity. In total, the final document was probably around 45-50 pages. We had it bound and if I do say so myself, it was AUsome!

Well, we were selected as one of two finalists in the $325,000 and over programming budget category. By the time we found out our students had one week to prepare. Well all we knew is that they would need to prepare a 30 minute oral presentation...but covering what. Our VP led the presentation team that included three other delegates from UPC. We guessed that it would be an elaboration of the written materials and through email clarified that. Once the information was compiled...the students had approximately two days to finalize preparations. The team rode in my car up and we went through the presentation a bit. Then Thursday night they "presented" for the rest of us and we gave them feedback. The next day they did one last run through before the presentation before the six judges.

The presentation could not have gone better. The students did a fantastic job! I was so proud of them. There were a few funny parts when they may have said something that they didn't practice, but that made it all the better. While we knew they had done well, we had no idea how the competition had done. The next day at the closing banquet, the awards were presented. And.....drumroll please.....Auburn UPC won the Board of Excellence Award! So AUsome:) I was proud of their presentation and their efforts, but so very thankful that all of their hard work and the great things that our students provide for Auburn were recognized. This award is for our current council, but also for all of the students that have participated in the past working long hours, working up a sweat, and brainstorming lots of ideas. Thank you UPC for serving Auburn!