Maya Calloway Richardson elected NACADA Region 5 Michigan Liaison
Maya Calloway Richardson, student success navigator for HFC’s School of Health and Human Services, was elected as the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) Region 5 Michigan Liaison in March. Her terms runs from 2019-21.
“I went to my first NACADA conference in 2017. I left this conference feeling determined to serve the advising profession in some capacity. It was the best conference I ever attended. The energy and passion was contagious – it gave me good vibes. The people involved really cared about academic advising,” said Calloway Richardson, who has worked at HFC since 2016 as a student success navigator and an adjunct faculty member.
NACADA
NACADA is an organization of professionals from colleges and universities concerned with the intellectual, personal, and career/vocational advising needs of students in the state of Michigan. It is a forum for discussion, debate, and the exchange of ideas regarding academic advising and all related areas of higher education.
NACADA recognizes that effective academic advising is at the core of student success. It aspires to be the premier global association for the development and dissemination of innovative theory, research, and practice of academic advising in higher education.
As part of the Regional Division, Calloway Richardson will represent Michigan through the facilitation of professional development activities, networking opportunities, and member recruitment and service. She will also contribute to activity proposals to support academic advisors, faculty advisors, and advising administrators within their geographic regions.
“I am blessed to have the full support of my department,” she said.
A Staunch Believer
Calloway Richardson is a staunch believer in a holistic approach to student engagement across departments and campus-based organizations to maximize retention, increase student success, and attainment of desired student outcomes, departmental goals, and College objectives. She is also a champion for diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education.
Her duties as a student success navigator include helping students make reasonable academic and career goals based on their aspirations, creating a supportive environment for all students that encourages meaningful interaction and engaged learning, informing students of course requirements for programs of study and assisting them in establishing curriculum to satisfy requirements from day one to completion, assessing risk factors contributing to attrition and proactively working to mitigate those obstacles to prevent barriers to graduation, assisting with credit transfer process and review, assisting with navigation of articulation agreements, disseminating curriculum information and program policy to HFC faculty and staff, utilizing appropriate systems and student data to confirm and track accurate enrollment, persistence, and graduation information for assigned students.
Calloway Richardson graduated from Michigan State University (MSU) with her bachelor’s in dietetics. She later went on to earn her MBA from the University of Phoenix and her graduate certificate in higher educational leadership from the Keller Graduate School of Management from DeVry University.
A Well-Deserved Honor
“Maya deserves this honor,” said colleague Erin Yanke, a recipient of the MIACADA Outstanding Academic Advisor Award-Primary Role at the Region 5 Conference. “She’ll do an amazing job not only representing HFC but the entire state of Michigan.”
During the Region 5 Conference, Calloway Richardson and Yanke gave two presentations:
1). “You Cannot Pour From an Empty Cup: Taking Care of Yourself to Take Care of Others”
2). “Silo is a Four Letter Word: Surrender the Me for We”
Both will give the “Empty Cup” presentation at the NACADA Annual Conference Oct. 20-23 in Louisville, KY.
