Updates to the NAASS Summit, Nov. 8-12, 2021 

• The 2021 NAASS Virtual Summit will be entirely online. Planning is underway to cover critical topics that impact your summer programming. 
• A unique aspect of this event will be the chance to invite colleagues from your institution to attend with you. Instead of just an individual membership, we also have an institutional registration. For $150, you will be able to invite up to ten members from your institution.
• We hope you will see this as an opportunity to share the resources of NAASS and highlight the work of summer sessions!
• Individual registration for NAASS members is $75, with non-member registration priced at $150. 
• Additionally, NAASS has secured a keynote speaker for Summit - a press release with more details will be shared with the NAASS community in July. 
• Information about the program and registration will be announced soon on this page. 

Help NAASS Reach 100 Members by July 1! 

• We are halfway there - with only a week left in the month of June, we have over 50 renewed members for 2021-2022.
  
• Renew your NAASS membership today for $450 before the fiscal year ends here. 
• Questions about renewing membership? Contact us.

New Articles Posted on Summer Academe

• There are two new articles published on Summer Academe. 
  
  • Are you curious about how best to support online graduate students in their summer research endeavors?  Quincy Martin III from Governors State University discusses current research and best practices for digital library support. Learn how to help students by offering online citation and subject-specific workshops, collaboration with faculty, and the creation of user guides in Martin’s article Library Support for Online Graduate Students in Summer Session.
    
  • At the 1997 NAASS Annual Conference, Ronald Wasserstein delivered a presentation titled “What Every President and Every Chief Academic Officer Should Know about College and University Summer Sessions."  Loy Lytle and Bill Kops, longtime NAASS members and contributors, revisit Wasserstein’s presentation and subsequent paper.  How has the landscape changed in the intervening 24 years?  How have recent events affected the role of summer terms at colleges and universities?  Lytle and Kops offer their own insights on these and other questions in What Every President and Every Chief Academic Officer Should Know about College and University Summer Sessions—Redux.
    
• For more information about the benefits of Summer Academe for NAASS members, visit our website. 

Sign Up to be Featured on NAASS Social Media! 

• Want to be featured on NAASS’ Facebook, Instagram and Twitter? Be part of the summer social media campaign!
• Share with the NAASS community a special summer program or initiative your institution is rolling out. Whether it’s about managing online classes, summer 2021 enrollment growth or adapting pre-college and K-12 programs during COVID, we want to hear about it.
• Fill out this form to be highlighted on NAASS Social. 
  

The NAASS Membership Portal

• Have you created your account on the new NAASS membership portal? If not, you’re missing out!
• Log in to the portal here to connect with colleagues on the new NAASS Forum, view archives of The NAASS Beat, recordings of our spring webinar series, and more.
• For assistance with the platform, email jacob.wierson@slu.edu.
  

NAASS Membership Renewals Open on May 1, 2021 

• Starting on May 1, NAASS will start accepting renewals for 2021-2022. 
• For the third year in a row, membership renewals will remain at $450. By renewing, NAASS members will have access to:  
  • Brand-new membership portal which allows members to directly message and connect with colleagues, post to the wider group on a social feed and start a new topic on the new-and-improved NAASS Forum, all on one easy to navigate platform.
  • Weekly webinars on topics such as building virtual community, summer pre-college programs, planning for winter session and more.
    
  • Participation in surveys to gather insight and share best practices on summer/special sessions.
  • Ability to review to the latest Joint Statistical Report which provides comparative information on college and university summer sessions that is useful to members of NAASS for benchmarking, evaluating, and improving programming. 
  • Access to SummerStudyintheUSA.org, a platform which is a collaboration among over 100 North American colleges and universities that offer short-term summer programs for a wide range of learners, including pre-college, undergraduate, and graduate students. This tool allows users to conduct a detailed search of summer programs by grade level, program length, academic area, program type, and more.
  • Reduced rate for the upcoming Virtual Summit. 
• For questions about membership renewals, email naass@naass.org. For more information about the benefits of membership, click here. 
  

Save the Date for the NAASS Summit, Nov. 8-12, 2021! 

• Although NAASS won’t be meeting in person next fall at the annual conference, the Conference & Program Planning Committee is reimagining this time as a Virtual Summit - a time to share ideas, connect with each other, and remain in community even while apart.
  
• Here’s how you can get involved:
  
  • Join the Conference & Program Planning committee, which meets monthly. It’s a great way to get involved in shaping this event and making new friends. Contact NAASS for more details. 
  • Consider presenting. More information about submitting a proposal will be available soon.
  • Save the date for the Virtual Summit: November 8-12, 2021.
• Help NAASS create a vital and innovative event which gives members an opportunity to showcase the work that has been accomplished during this critical time in higher education. 

Features on the NAASS Membership Portal 

• View archived versions of The NAASS Beat, links to recordings of all spring 2021 webinars, and post on the new NAASS Forum on our membership platform! 
• To access the above features on the portal, do the following: 
  
  • Sign in. 
  • Click the 'Quick Links' button towards the top of the page.
  • Select 'Forums' or 'Community Blogs.'
  • Click on 'NAASS Forum: General Discussion' when accessing the Forum, or 'NAASS Webinars' to access the blog post with the webinar recording links.
  • NOTE: For the NAASS Forum, don't forget to click on 'Forum Actions' on the right-hand side of the page and select 'Subscribe to Instant Updates' to receive notifications. 
• Have questions about setting up your account? Contact us. 

Upcoming Webinars 

• We have two more NAASS spring webinars scheduled! 
• Join us today, Wednesday, April 21 @ 1 p.m. Eastern Time for a discussion led by Chris Parrish of Podium Education on How to Use In-Demand Tech Courses to Boost Summer Enrollment.
• RSVP to today's webinar and next week's discussion on pre-college programs here. 
  

NAASS Pre-Summer Survey Results

• Thank you to NAASS members who completed the pre-summer survey, and a special note of gratitude to Trish Suske for creating the survey and compiling the results. 
• All NAASS members will receive a copy of the results via email on Friday, April 23. 

Working Groups

• Sign up for current NAASS working groups here. 
• NAASS is excited to introduce a new NAASS working group for pre-college programs! 
• The pre-college working group was formed as an opportunity to collaborate with other peer institutions to enhance the development of pre-college programs and leverage each institutions’ knowledge.
• This working group will explore and address the complexities of offering online, residential, and abroad pre-college programs in bi-monthly Zoom meetups.
• Goals include, but are not limited to:
  • Utilize knowledge to develop approaches to mitigate challenges faced by pre-college institutions
  • Describe and address challenges of working with minors on campus
    
  • Emphasize the student experience and explore best practices

 Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the NAASS LinkedIn group. 

Update to the NAASS 2021 Annual Conference

• The 57th Annual NAASS Conference will be held virtually in fall 2021. NAASS plans to return to meeting in-person in Philadelphia, PA in fall 2022 for the 58th Annual NAASS Conference at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown Hotel.
• NAASS reviewed feedback and heard from many that institutional budget and travel restrictions as well as personal comfort would severely limit access and attendance to an in-person event in 2021.
• For this reason, and the financial stability of NAASS, the executive committee and conference planning committee believe that a virtual event is the best path forward for summer and special sessions professionals.
• For the latest updates on the 2021 Annual Conference, visit the NAASS website or keep an eye out for information in future NAASS Beats.

Join a NAASS Working Group!

• The Middle-Southern regional team invites all NAASS members to join us in pilot working groups designed for colleagues in similar functional areas in summer and special sessions.
• Working groups are topic-based and will have the opportunity to set their own goals on what they would like to achieve. Groups might be interested in writing articles or publishing scholarship, connecting with others in roles similar to theirs to share best practices, and more.
• There are currently two NAASS Working Groups: Transfer Initiatives (led by Amanda Therrell) and Data (led by Meg Lipinoga).
• Sign up for a working group here.
• For questions, contact naass@naass.org.

Upcoming NAASS Webinars

• Our NAASS spring 2021 webinar series is in full swing!
• Join us for the next NAASS webinar on Wednesday, February 24 @ 2 p.m. Eastern Time as NAASS members discuss Working Groups, a new initiative that connects NAASS colleagues on summer and special session planning.
• RSVP for upcoming webinars here.
• If you have questions about our virtual discussions, please contact NAASS Membership & Communications Committee Chair Jacob Wierson at jacob.wierson@slu.edu. 

Summer Study in the USA Tool

• As of February 11, 2021, the Summer Study in the USA search tool has garnered 39,650 page views since it launched in October 2020. Use of the tool is being heavily promoted alongside the Association for Pre-College Program Directors’ series of 2021 Summer Pre-College Virtual Program Fairs.
• Between January and April 2021, the Virtual Fairs are forecast to reach over 10,000 students, parents, and educators interested in learning more about summer programs.
• If your school’s summer programs (for any grade range) are not listed on the site, please contact Christine Parker at csparker@uchicago.edu for directions on how you can submit your programs to the search tool.
• Inclusion in the search tool is a NAASS member benefit and provides wide exposure for your programs at no additional cost to you!

NAASS Big Idea Feature

• Throughout the spring semester, the Creative & Innovative Awards Committee has been featuring this year's NAASS Big Ideas.
• This month, the committee would like to feature Virginia Commonwealth University's Summer Scholars which went virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Click here for more information about this program and how VCU found a solution for students during difficult times.
• For a full list of Big Idea submissions, click here and follow NAASS on social media for weekly highlights!

New Articles on Summer Academe

• Two new articles have been published on Summer Academe:
  • A review of Transitioning Students in Higher Education: Philosophy, Pedagogy, and Practice, by William Kops
  • A By-Product of Summer Programs: Student Marketers and Career-Readiness, by Geneva Sedgwick, Bryan Ruppert, and Zachar Zenteno
• Summer Academe is a professional journal published jointly since 1996 by NAASS and AUSS. It provides university and college administrators, deans and directors of summer sessions, and faculty involved in teaching and programming in summer sessions, with a source of current research and best practices in summer session administration and pedagogy.
• For more information about Summer Academe, click here.

YourMembership Database

• NAASS is rolling out a new membership database called YourMembership (YM).
• YM will give members the ability to connect and network with colleagues, post on forums and communicate with committees in an easy-to-navigate online platform.
• More details will be shared with membership soon- rollout is expected to begin by the end of the month!

Follow NAASS on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and our LinkedIn group.