2018 AAA Conference

The 2018 theme, All Are Welcome: Building Bridges in Unsettled Times, will inspire and motivate advisors and student affairs professionals to think about strategies and ways to promote building bridges in the midst of social, political, and cultural unrest. As academic advisors and student affairs professionals, we are at the front lines of how this unrest manifests in students' experiences on our college and university campuses. We have a responsibility to advocate for marginalized and vulnerable students on whom the strain of these times rests the most heavily. Rather than living out of fear of the ‘other,’ we challenge and seek to empower our students to press into difficult dialogues with people who have widely ranging viewpoints. Are traditional advising models and student development theory sufficient to address these concerns? What resources, skills, knowledges do our students need to persist and thrive in the future? And how can we support our own professional growth in the face of increasing student loads, new responsibilities, and decreasing budgets? The work of this conference is to begin to discuss and formulate responses to these difficult questions.  

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the conference co-chairs: Emira Ibrahimpašić (emira@unl.edu 402.472.2150) or Marybeth Helmink (mbhelmink@unl.edu 402.472.3121). 

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Tomarra Adams | University of Louisville Pan-African Studies Director of Undergraduate Studies

Keynote: The Challenges and Costs of Inclusion: Creating Liberatory Space in Academic Advising in the 21st Century

The sociopolitical climate influences the conversations and dynamics on our college campuses. The relevance of higher education institutions is being questioned not just because of its cost, but because students are trained to ask questions and investigate empirically supported explanations. As educators, we teach our students to explore who is included and excluded throughout the historical evolution of American society to better understand who were, who we are, and who we want to be.

How might advisors create the space for historically marginalized students and their allies to develop their identity at a predominantly white campus within today’s social climate? As students progress through this critical time, there is a need for faculty and professional advisors to better understand the impact of stereotype threat and macroaggressions on the evolution of students’ identity and academic performance. By examining the intersection of traditional advising models and student development theories with race identity development theories and liberatory education models, conversations on inclusion and equity can be synergistic within and outside of the classroom. It is the responsibility of advisors to be intentional teachers who empower students by acknowledging their strengths and dignity of worth. Advisors must create the space for students to develop who they are so students can construct what our tomorrow will be.

Biography: Dr. Tomarra Adams

Tomarra Adams received her B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Pan-African Studies in 1995 from the University of Louisville, and she received her Master of Science in Social Work in 1997 from the University of Louisville's Kent School of Social Work. In 2004, she received her doctorate in Social Work from the joint program at University of Kentucky/University of Louisville. She became a Certified Social Worker in 1997 and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in 2000 and practiced individual and group therapy with severely emotionally disabled youths and survivors of domestic violence. She also practiced at the University of Louisville’s Counseling Center and provided educational outreach programs to identify behaviors, strengthen skills, and introduce strategies of prevention and resources. She currently practices through the Wayne Corporation, and employee assistance program, and pursuing a post-graduate certificate in advanced psycholoanalytic therapy.

Dr. Adams has worked on issues of diversity and retention in higher education, with a specific focus on issues impacting Black students and their identity and interpersonal development since 1997. She served as the interim director of the UofL Multicultural Center for nearly two years and advisor to multiple student organizations. From 2000-2015, she served as Assistant Dean in the College Arts & Sciences centered on retention initiatives which expanded to encompass all of academic advising within the College. She joined the faculty of the Department of Pan-African Studies in 2004, where she continues to teach, with research concentrating on issues of Black student retention at predominantly White institutions, Black identity and interpersonal development, and the socialization of Black women in the United States. A more recent passion is the exploration on the impact of trauma among African Americans. She serves as the Director of Undergraduate Studies within Pan-African Studies and the faculty advisor for the department’s majors and minors.

She is an active member of National Academic Advising Association, the Louisville Association of Black Social Workers, National Association of Social Workers, Council of Social Work Education, and the National Council of Black Studies.

Conference Schedule: Presentation Abstracts