Letter from the Chair - Professional Advisers Council

Hello Friends

I am excited to serve as the Chair for the Professional Advisers Council (PAC) this year! I would like to take some time to outline the Executive Boards goals and how we plan to help lead PAC for the 2024-2025 Academic year.

Let me start by introducing myself. My name is Jamie Franklin and I am a Senior Adviser in the First Year Advising Center (FYAC). I joined the FYAC in July 2022 after spending much of my Higher Ed career in Housing and Residence Life. With Higher Education’s ever changing landscape, it is important to me to be flexible in how I work with students and my colleagues and be up to date on best practices in our field. In addition I strive to be a fierce advocate for my students and colleagues, seeking clarity and understanding in a respectful manner.

Reflecting on the 2023-2024 PAC retreat has helped us outline how we plan to lead PAC this year. Five individual values stood out as we talked about PAC values during the retreat. These values are as follows: Advocacy, Collaboration, Community, Support, and Professional Development.

We have an incredibly talented and dedicated group of Higher Education Professionals who advise at Oakland University. Last year’s Executive Board developed multiple opportunities to update skills, refresh knowledge of systems and policies along with facilitating conversations on how we can continue to support our students. My hope is to continue to provide opportunities for growth and professional development as well as a place for PAC to advocate for our students.

Covid changed the way PAC functioned and operated. As PAC adapted to an online world, we shifted a majority of our meetings to be virtual. PAC has moved from a fully online meeting model to a mix of virtual and face to face meetings with last year half of our monthly PAC meetings being held in person. To better facilitate Collaboration, Community and Support we will be holding a majority of PAC meetings in person during the 2024-2025 Academic year.

PAC is a unique group that allows advisers to connect with campus partners, learn, collaborate with our colleagues and advocate for our students. We welcome your comments, feedback, and ideas. If you’re ever interested in presenting at a meeting or sharing with our members, email us at [email protected].

I am looking forward to an amazing year.

Thank you,

Jamie Franklin