Themes of care, connection, and intention in 2026
Over 100 advisors came together for AAE's 2026 Advising Fall Welcome. This year's event acknowledged new advisors, encouraged attendees to connect, created space for wellness, provided an opportunity to refocus on and set intentions for the year ahead, and celebrated the outstanding contributions of colleagues. Undergraduate Education Vice Provost and Dean Michael Bradford began with welcome remarks, noting the importance and impact of advising at UC Davis. AAE's Katherine Ampaw-Matthei and Pamela Pretell infused connection and networking into the event with an activity that urged attendees to find less familiar folks, discuss advising-related prompts together, and collect contact information from each other. These types of purposeful interactions help us strengthen our interwoven network of advisors.
Advising Supervisors Anya Gibson and Malina Gillies-Doherty presented about a program on Inner Ecosystems that they developed with grant-funded support, alongside colleague Ariel Collatz, pertaining to growing resilience in advising. In the presentation, they addressed measures of care and resilience in terms of social justice practice, head-heart alignment, and connections with others. They also discussed relaxation responses and downregulating or settling to develop the capacity to stay in a relaxed state longer or to get back to it sooner. Anya and Malina ended their presentation with a real-time settling practice for attendees. This presentation spotlighted work from within our community and helped to expand our ideas of wellness in an evidence-based framework.
The final speaker, AAE Executive Director Kayton Carter, discussed beginning with the end in mind. He instructed the advising community to imagine themselves in June 2027 and consider what they want to be able to say they accomplished over the course of the year. He asked the community to get specific and to set intentions as a way to set the groundwork for accomplishing what they want to achieve, starting with determining one step toward that goal. Carter also shared information about changes to the advisor certificate series, including a set of on-demand courses that will especially benefit new advisors, launching in early 2027. He encouraged advisors to get involved and reminded the crowd about the new annual AAE event calendar with scheduled Advising Community Dialogues, Quarterly Advising Resource meetings, Real Talk sessions, and other events for the 2026-2027 academic year.
Advising awards
The event concluded with a lively awards ceremony recognizing individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the advising community. Congratulations to the 2026 honorees:
- Outstanding Staff Advisor: Saira Delgado
- Outstanding New Advisor: Amber Handling
- Outstanding Advising Administrator: Katy Pattison
- Outstanding Advising Administrator Certificate of Merit: Malina Gillies-Doherty
- Outstanding Advising Mentor: Shadaya Litt
- Outstanding Campus Collaborators: Emilio Sanchez and Roxanne Flores
- Outstanding Advising Community Partner: Jennifer Jackson
- Outstanding Equity Champion: Nick Lee
- Outstanding Peer Advisor: Erin Javier
Moving forward
As we embark on a new academic year, let's continue to work collaboratively and with intentionality. We will confront challenges, solve problems, and celebrate successes along the way. With an approach that is grounded in personal wellbeing, a sense of professional purpose, and a feeling of community connection, we can show up for our students and ourselves.