LS Administrator Candace Sumner-Robinson Featured at 2019 NACADA Northeast Region I Conference

Liberal Studies congratulates Candace Sumner-Robinson, Assistant Director of Advising and Diversity, for leading a popular session during the 2019 NACADA Northeast Region I Conference in Burlington, Vermont! NACADA is the global community for academic advising and this year marks its 40th Anniversary.

Sumner-Robinson lead a morning session titled Unearthing Global Roots: Aiding in the Social Identification Process for College Students Through The Study Abroad Experience. Many advisors from the New England area and parts of Canada attended. The primary focus of the session was the social identification process that college students are exposed to, how the study abroad experience impacts that process, and how college administrators can support college students of intersecting social identities as they participate in culturally focused programs like studying abroad. Participants explored how the study abroad experience affords many students the opportunity to not only learn about different cultural groups, but also about who they are and how they identify within society.

A large portion of Sumner-Robinson’s presentation highlighted the GLS Junior year study away experience. She used this example to discuss how LS advisors and faculty work with our students to connect what they learn within academic and social spaces at the Washington Square campus to their respective study away sites. Sumner-Robinson also discussed how GLS students are able to use their study away experiences to shape their senior year research and future academic, professional and social experiences and opportunities. She also shared some of the study abroad resources that advisors typically share with our students here in LS.

Participants engaged in meaningful conversations and were able to reflect on their own study abroad experiences, the study abroad and cultural exploration experiences of the students they work with, the resources that they have access to in their respective department, as well as share best practices for supporting the social identification process through study abroad experiences.