06/01/2015

State Divisions Receive Recognition and Support from NCDA

By Alicia Cheek and Ron Cathey

The NCDA State Division Leader's Handbook states the following:


Up to four state divisions are recognized each year for their unique contribution, exemplary activities and significant progress as an association. Criteria to be considered may include:

It is not necessary to have activities in all suggested areas. Quality, not quantity, of activities will be recognized. Therefore, small state groups have as much opportunity to receive earned recognition as groups with larger numbers or resources.

In 2015, both Colorado and Missouri have achieved recognition from NCDA as an outstanding state division. According to these two state division reports, they show the exemplary activities that all state career development associations may want to model.

Colorado Career Development Association (CCDA)
This established state division of over 200 members offered a total of seven events in 2014-15. These included their Fall Conference, three networking/training events throughout the state, a resume and job search assistance community outreach event, a Day of Service (new this year), and an additional networking/training event outside of the Denver metro area. Two of these events were in conjunction with National Career Development Month activities. CCDA will conclude the year by hosting an event at the NCDA Global Career Development Conference. Their Board of 17 members requires and achieves strong communication, succession planning and commitment. These positions include:


The Board holds a summer retreat while also gathering at their annual events and the NCDA conference.

CCDA lists their biggest accomplishments/activities for the year in their annual report:

The biggest challenge CCDA faces is bringing in quality speakers for their events and completing nominations for NCDA awards. For more information about CCDA, view their website at www.coloradocareerdevelopment.org or contact Nena Davis (President 2014-15) sagecounseling@yahoo.com or Dan Macy (President 2015-16) Dan.Macy@rrcc.edu .

Missouri Career Development Association (MoCDA)
This relatively new state division (founded in 2010-11) consists of about 60 members. Their state report lists the benefits offered to members, including:

In addition to promoting the annual NCDA Poetry & Poster Contest during November, National Career Development Month, MoCDA also hosted a webinar “LinkedIn: Beyond Networking” (presented by Carrie Collier) for 20 members. The webinar discussed innovative ways to use LinkedIn and even those very familiar with LinkedIn learned something new! On November 20, 2014 MoCDA hosted an in-person roundtable discussion at Saint Louis University. The group enjoyed a dynamic conversation regarding motivating the long-term unemployed. Other events throughout the year included a webinar on Motivational Interviewing, Roundtables, presentations at the American Counseling Association of Missouri Annual Conference and MoCDA Exposition Day, and a planned Professional Development workshop, “Finding Employment that Works for Individuals with Asperger's Syndrome” on July 9, 2015 with Barbara Bissonette.

MoCDA's biggest accomplishments this year include:

Like any state organization, MoCDA faces some challenges that they look to NCDA and other state associations for guidance:

For more information about MoDA, view their website at www.mo-cda.org or contact Marcie Schumert, President 2014-15, marciaschumert39@webster.edu, or Chandra Johnson, President 2015-16, cjohn169@slu.edu


Support from NCDA
As a chartered division of the national association, each state can benefit from the following support:

NCDA looks forward to collaborating with all state career development associations. The business of building, managing, and sustaining a state organization takes a significant amount of time and effort but is worth it for all involved. State divisions are critical to the success of NCDA and deserve much support and recognition.

 

Reference

NCDA State Division Leader's Handbook. Retrieved from http://ncdacdf.org/"mailto:rcathey@latech.edu" target="_blank">rcathey@latech.edu

Alicia Cheek is the NCDA Communications Coordinator. She can be reached at acheek@ncda.org

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2 Comments

Deneen Pennington   on Tuesday 06/02/2015 at 09:15 AM

Congrats to both Colorado and Missouri CDAs! Your volunteer efforts are very commendable.

Jim Peacock   on Wednesday 06/03/2015 at 12:59 PM

Congratulations to both States.

As the outgoing President for Maine Career Development Association, please feel free to reach out to me if you have questions on what we are doing or want to discuss our struggles too.

We started just about 11 years ago and continue to grow. It certainly looks like you are doing great things!

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the comments shown above are those of the individual comment authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of this organization.