NACTA Newsletter - September 2024

September 2024

• NACTA President Cheryl Wachenheim's Message
• Featured Member: Joey Mehlhorn
• NACTA Membership Survey Findings and Next Steps
• NACTA 2024 Conference Photos
• New NACTA Members
• How to Renew Your NACTA Membership

NACTA Roundup with President Cheryl Wachenheim

Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to our new members and warm greetings to those returning. What an amazing conference we shared this summer. It is always great to return to teaching in the fall with ideas
and energy gained from our time together.

As an organization, we learned a great deal about your thoughts and goals for our organization during the Town Hall, Graduate Student Focus Group, informal feedback shared, and the online questionnaire distributed at the beginning of the summer. Nick Fuhrman (Immediate Past President) and the Executive Committee are pleased to share the results of the online questionnaire that was completed at the start of the summer. We thank everyone who participated in the questionnaire and are taking steps to apply the feedback received to continue to improve NACTA. 

If you have feedback, questions, or just want to visit. Please reach out at any time. I am honored to serve as your president this year and look forward to working with each of you.

Have an amazing day!
Cheryl

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NACTA Featured Member, Joey Mehlhorn

Each month we sit down with a member to highlight their academic and professional career, and to see how they are making the best of their membership in NACTA. This month’s Featured Member is the NACTA Regional Directors Lead and Southern Regional Director, Joey Mehlhorn.

How long have you been a member of NACTA?
I have been a NACTA member since 2002, where I went to my first conference in Nebraska.

Looking at your time with the Association, what have you most enjoyed doing?
It has been one of the best organizations that I have ever been involved to help with my professional development as a faculty member.  I really enjoy attending the annual conference and interacting and learning from colleagues from across the world.  I know I can always pick up the phone or email someone that I met at the conference to get advice and help with on how to better teach classes or work on research projects.  It really becomes like a big academic family.

What interesting things are you working on outside of the Association right now?
I am currently working on trying to grow graduate programs at UT Martin and working with undergraduate students in agribusiness to compete in collegiate competitions.  It is so much fun to take the students outside of the classroom to interact with students from across the country.

What is your most memorable teaching moment?
I am probably like most faculty in I can still remember my very class that I taught as a Ph.D. student.  The realization that the students have an expectation that you know what you are talking about.  It really made me feel the responsibility of the profession and how important the role of teacher/mentor.  I think I learned more about economics in that semester than any other time in my life.  I am so grateful for that opportunity and experience as a young person.

As the lead of the NACTA regional directors, what do you enjoy most about this position/being involved with NACTA in this way?
Serving as a regional director has been such a wonderful experience to get to know all the facets of NACTA and has given me an appreciation for all that goes into making our organization so great.  I have the opportunity to learn from the best folks in the industry who truly care about students and our profession.  I always feel energized after meeting with everyone.

Anything else that you would like to add?
I would encourage all members to get involved. You will get so much more out of your membership by engaging more.  Sign up for committees to volunteer at the conference.  You can serve also by encouraging your colleagues at your institution to join and participate. This is your NACTA organization and this is your extended academic family.

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NACTA Membership Survey Findings
and Next Steps

To view the NACTA Membership Survey Findings and Next Steps, click here.

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NACTA 2024 Conference Photos

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