Welcome to the first edition of the NAFA Journal. It has been a year since the Louisville conference when Amy, Judy and Julia first boldly expressed a willingness to resurrect our tradition of a newsletter/journal, and I am grateful for their collaboration and hard work in bringing this document to life. The Journal will touch on issues of importance and amusement. You will have the chance to learn a bit more about some of NAFA’s board members and get a new advisor’s perspective on the first year, in case you have forgotten what that felt like. Judy will update us on valuable resources for advisors and Julia will discuss that controversial and frustration–provoking ritual, endorsement letters. You will also learn about the virtues of starting scholarship cycles early and hear my reflections on a visit to two Fulbright Student Fellows in Southeast Asia. Perhaps most significantly, you’ll get a report on the NAFA survey many of you responded to some time during the last academic year.

In addition to the work devoted to making the Journal happen, during the past year, your officers, board members and volunteers have been working on projects such as the two summer workshops, the DC 2007 conference, and the UK trip among other things. As we enter into a “workshop summer,” I urge you to attend one of the workshops offered to NAFA members. These shorter sessions have tended to provide us with topics for the subsequent conference, and are a great way to connect and share insights and practices in more intimate settings.

I wish everyone a restful “off season” and look forward to hearing from you as we begin plans for NAFA’s Washington, DC conference in July of 2007.

Sincerely,

Beth Powers
NAFA President