 Hi everybody and welcome along to another episode of LESA conference television I'm Colom Cronin from the Adventures in Advising podcast and today I am delighted to be joined by a stalwart Advising the Oscar Oscar, how are you doing today? I'm good Colom. How are you? It's really nice to see you again. How are you? It's good I love the fact that I get the opportunity to catch up with you at these various events and Oscars always doing interesting things But for viewers who mightn't be so familiar with you though I can't imagine there are many people watching this who don't know you can do you want to tell us a little bit about yourself where you're working and Your work with LBSA as well Yeah, so I'm I'm working with the University of Maastricht with at lab, which is the education innovation Institute And I joined that Institute about four years ago And there we look at ways to innovate and continuously develop education as we do it in Maastricht and One of the things that I'm focusing on there really is bringing notions like mentoring and advising But of closing closer to the curriculum We're looking for ways to do that to not make it some kind of remote Sort of side thing but something that's really connected to how students learn and and what they what they study And before I came to to at lab I was with the University College of Maastricht for a long time Where I taught humanities, but I also coordinated academic advising and that is really sort of that has been sort of the beginning of my my connection with with advising Which brought me into contact with a few really great organizations sort of one of them obviously being LVSA that I sort of joined I have to admit only after we Organized a conference on advising in Maastricht in 2013 an international conference But I've been active there. I've been on the board with LVSA and I'm currently in a working group that is looking for ways to Nurture and develop new contexts with with colleagues abroad So that is also really interesting now in the context of the UK and LVSA conferences happening at the same time by coincidence But a beautiful coincidence And I've I've been active in the Canada the global community for academic advising Which was relevant for me because in Maastricht we used the type of advising that was much more sort of similar to advising as it happens in the United States than maybe study advising in the Netherlands, but Yeah, just as in that sort of little bit of personal history I like the fact that that again now with the two conferences we have yet another organization UKEDS sort of Where I'm also sort of a little bit involved But representing yet another type of advising or tutoring or personal tutoring as they would say in the UK so Yeah, the opportunity to do things together to Enrich the perspectives we all have on what it means to advise students. I mean, that's actually a really big word So I think that's always great. So Yeah, and that's that's also the one of the main sort of driving Forces has always been for me to be able to see those differences and how they lead to new stuff new ideas. I Think a modest summation of your career there Oscar I would see you as the Marco van Basten of the Dutch Academic advising world, you know with that when with a myriad of talents, but of course supported by a fantastic team around you At an institutional level, but also With LVSA and can you know this conference is obviously a little bit different this year with things being online But can you talk to me? I suppose a little bit about like that experience and a little bit The way in which I suppose people are you know It sounds from talking to to eris and others over the last few days that there's been a lot of input from members into the conference Yes, and and Yeah, the the interesting thing about the conference as it is now is that it is sort of new in two ways And one is that we are doing this all online the original idea was to have this conference a year ago in Maastricht and Obviously we couldn't and then you know, these were the days that we all thought this will blow over in a couple of months And we'll just do it sort of next spring And then in the fall it became quite obvious that that was not very likely either So then we had to decide to do this online Which comes with the obvious challenges I mean one of the great things and this goes for you get in the car and LVSA and I think any Professional organization of having a conference is that you run into colleagues and that you meet with them and and chat with them and that Also, if you diligently follow all the the sessions Sort of the magic usually happens in between sessions when you also when you have the opportunity to process ideas that you just saw with others so you And and it's just nice to be with people who do what you do where you don't have to explain or defend yourself You can just refer to things that they understand and all of that usually happens in The physical space of a conference and none of that is there So that that was one challenge and the other thing was that we decided I think also to be honest a little bit inspired by the example of Nakata and you cut that We wanted to create many more opportunities for members to present to Everyone does interesting things in in sort of in a thousand different ways That they are proud of that they are think are relevant and could be relevant to others But there aren't that many opportunities to share that beyond your immediate circle of colleagues. So LVSA has for many years organized what we call study days Where we would ask professionals from the field or relevant to the field to offer workshops Which were very successful, I mean our members really enjoyed it, but this element of Asking members what is it that you would like to share that you would like to present is it was it was a new sort of insight that that could be could be useful and There was a conference in Groningen in the north of the country now three years ago Where we did a little bit of that with posters and stuff and people really liked that So we thought okay. Let's take the next step and make this a proposal driven conference, which it is now But I can imagine that even though study advisors like Oak usually Presenting in a setting like this is is quite something else and not everyone may have done this very often yet And now it also needs to happen online so it's it was a bit too interesting challenges for LVSA also Yeah, we also sort of when we decided to move to this model. We thought okay. What's gonna happen? Are we going to have proposals at all? Unfortunately, we got many really great proposals. So But it's all and then okay, how do we do this whole online thing and others have also already talked about not just using zoom but also the advising hub on the on the Gettertown platform which We really hope people will attend because even though we also see it's two-dimensional. It's not the same It doesn't come with the smell of coffee But it is as close as being together. I think as you as you can be right now. So So those were challenges for us, but but I think it's also challenging for many of the presenters they have to to do this thing of Yeah, you're always a bit vulnerable when you're presenting And and particularly when it is You know, this is you're amongst Professionals which on the one hand is the one thing that really connects you but it's different than explaining a certain procedure to a group of students The critical questions that students may come up with will probably be of an entirely different nature than Potential critical questions, even if they're constructive that your fellow colleagues from other universities may come up with so Yeah, that's new. That's challenging and then you need to look at that camera all the time and Deal with the fact that people shut off their cameras and you're looking at names instead of people Which we hope by the way everyone that you will not that you will switch on your camera But yes, so that's those are two new things about the conference But I also think it's it's going to be a lot of fun to be honest Yeah Yeah, no, I've no doubt with some of the people involved It will be a lot of fun and I'm going to ask you maybe for some of the things that you're looking forward to I'll give you a moment to you know Mull over that and I will also give you what I'm looking forward to but why before we we jump into that just to let viewers know that There is a LinkedIn group that they can join and it is a joint LinkedIn group to chat with people from Netherlands UK and elsewhere and you can also see that there has been a Twitter Profile developed you can see the conference hashtag So do get involved if you are active on social media and keep the conversations going and Then Oscar if I was to ask you for just some of the things I sprinkling I know there are a myriad of things going to be happening But a sprinkling of some of the things you might be looking forward to over the next few days Well, I already mentioned the other town or the advising hub I really hope to be running into many colleagues there and that many people will visit The nice thing about the program when you look at the sessions is it's really diverse So there are many things that really have to do with competencies and skills particular sort of focus focus on Having sort of meaningful coaching conversations with students awareness of the needs of specific sort of groups sort of within the student population, but What I really like about the the the conference program is and and all of this submitted also by members There is a lot that is asking questions about the profession sort of what what is advising about why should we Or how can we make it more sort of visible and relevant but also what what does it mean to to do advising and to do it well And we measure it can we On the basis of how we evaluate our own profession also make a case for it So it's it's both about the personal development and growth as an advisor, but there are many sessions also about Advising as a profession. So I and I think that's very important because it and I think we've talked about this before column There is a there's a huge demand now sort of by institutions and students to address issues that have to do with stress and well being and things like And that there's an automatic reaction to say, okay, well, that's what advising is for And on the one hand, yes, we can play a role on the other hand, we cannot sort of supposed to be sort of the group Or the office that resolves issues that may arise somewhere else like for instance in the curriculum or in in university procedures. So Making a sense of this is what we're about and this is what we're not about and this is what should be taken care of elsewhere. I think that's important So that's why I like that there are many sessions that have to do with the nature of the profession What I also think really is a fun part of the program is that we have a few sessions for which you have to sign up There's no additional cost, but there's limited capacity having to do with improvisation theater online Team building online all of this done by improvisation by Vera Humberlo who is great at that And team building Iris Berks and Arif van de Lucht of Maastricht University who are sort of the perfect people to get people excited about that kind of thing There are what we call intervisie. So there is it's hard to translate. I think it's something like practice analysis, but simply sitting down with colleagues and discussing cases. So they're really in the in the in the privacy of being together with a small group Conducted by Andre Baers who is he's very well known. He's he's done the first LV as our webinar on the co the impact of COVID and advising during COVID. He is also the You would say the guardian of the LV as our course program and has done it for many years. So and but now he is doing these inter-visie sessions. You can still sign up As we speak now at least there are a few a few spots left so I would encourage people to do that. Another thing that I really like is that we will have a few sessions and opportunities together with you get So David David Gray and I will be presenting also on the nature of the profession. The team building one of the team building sessions that we host is also open to to you get members and will be in English. And there will be which is sort of not an LV as our event but there will be an LV as our element in the UK awards ceremony. Which has to do with the fact that in honor of Charlie nut the the executive director of Nakada. And I think here we are talking about sort of a real icon and sort of probably the young curve of academic I was going to save a perfect analogy. So in his in his in his to honor him you can an LV as I have created an award that will be sort of introduced during the awards ceremony and also sort of sort of be given to someone and I don't think I should reveal the name yet of that person. But and the idea is that we want to acknowledge the work that I would say ordinary advisors so not people who have been given the assignment to work on international relations. There aren't that many in advising anyways yet but international relations between advisors, but someone who has part of their regular day job, or any evening hours has gone out of their way to promote collaboration interaction between advisors. Or tutors or mentors or whatever name sort of they use across the globe and and I think yeah I see that as one of the highlights it will only be a small small part of the awards ceremony but I would encourage also many of our LV as our members to attend that that ceremony. So those are those are a few things that come up when you ask that question. Well, there is so much to look forward to and now that you have said that I do hope to speak to Charlie for the conference TV over the next few days I might ask him if he can demonstrate a Christ turn for the on screen. Also, if you will indulge me a moment that you know you have such wonderful insights and for any viewers who want to hear more about Oscars thoughts. I had the very good fortune of speaking to Oscar in depth on the Adventures in Advising podcast episode 18 find it wherever you get your podcast. So if you listen to podcast Apple podcast Spotify Stitcher and we talk for nearly an hour and it's a really wonderful conversation. But in terms of other things that I am looking forward to and there's so much packed into the next few days but the thing that I am really interested to see is what what you will doodle on this occasion Oscar because The last time we spoke Oscar is doodling led to the creation of a lunar lander and I still tell people about this because it was quite quite a feast that you it was really intricate and the little parts and Oscar managed to put it all together so I look forward to seeing what Oscar has created at the end of the conference. I hope so high sort of over the last few days when they had to sort of zoom calls actually you know it's going downhill I've been gradually tearing apart this little guitar pick so that's that's where I'm at now so Well maybe we can get you yourself and David Gray and you know we could do you know a transnational you know session perhaps that you know a jam session maybe that's what we need to do at these online you know conferences where we can have a you know an advising band from from around the world but An idea for the future perhaps there is so much to look forward to so again do check out the website do check out the conference schedule as Oscar pointed out there are some sessions that you have to sign up in advance for so make sure if you're interested in those sessions then they sound really interesting please do sign up And all that remains at this point is for me to say thank you very much Oscar to wish you all the best and the team all the best for the coming day I'm sure it will be fantastic and I look forward to speaking to you again in the not too distant future. So do I and listen to the advising podcast people. Not just mine but all of them they're great. Thanks.