COVID-19 message: KAAN wants to ensure that the safety of our members, families, and community is of the highest priority. After much discussion, the KAAN steering committee has decided to move the 2020 conference online to a virtual format.
2020 KAAN Conference: Changing Your Mind About Stress
Virtual Conference
August 5, 2020; 2:00 p.m.
Important dates:
- December 10: call for proposals opens.
- June 1: New virtual call for proposals deadline.
- July 6: Registration opens!
- August 4: Registration deadline.
- August 5: Conference day!
KAAN 2020 Conference Program
Changing Your Mind About Stress
“Stress happens when something you care about is at stake. It’s not a sign to run away – it’s a sign to step forward.” – Kelly McGonigal, The Upside of Stress
Being stressed is a fact of life on college campuses today. Year after year, data from college counseling centers across the country have shown that stress leads the list of student-presenting problems. As students deal with uncertainty and disruptions to their daily lives due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), problematic stress levels will most certainly persist.
Most of us are accustomed to thinking of stress as debilitating and detrimental to health and well-being. Believing stress is bad means we should take action to negate, minimize, and/or manage it. This unquestioned assumption about the destructiveness of stress can lead to “stressing about stress,” and paradoxically, make the negative outcomes more likely.
With this presentation featured speaker Dan Wilcox aims to offer an alternative way to think about stress. He’d like to make a case for changing our mind about stress and talk about the benefits of cultivating a “stress is enhancing” mindset, not only for your students but for yourselves as well.
Featured Speaker
Dan Wilcox
Licensed Psychologist
Assistant Professor, Kansas State University
Dan Wilcox has worked in higher education for nearly 40 years. He has served in different roles including career counselor, psychologist, and teaching faculty. As part of his teaching role in the department of Counseling, Special Education, and Student Affairs at Kansas State University, he teaches classes in the master’s degree program in academic advising.
Wilcox earned his master’s degree in college student development from Azusa Pacific University in 1983 and his doctorate in counseling psychology from Michigan State University in 1995.
Prior to starting his current faculty position, he worked for 15 years as assistant director for training and as licensed psychologist for Kansas State University Counseling Services. He also coordinated the career counseling and development services at counseling services.
Wilcox has a wide range of professional interests including career development, counseling and academic advising, and positive psychology.
Registration & Payments
Each individual attending the conference should complete the online registration. An option is available for submitting payment by credit card or for a business office to pay for registration(s) later. A video recording of the event will be made available to registrants who are unable to attend the day of the event.
If the attendee’s office or department is submitting payment on their behalf, the attendee should provide their email confirmation to their office. Registration is not complete until the attendee receives confirmation that payment has been received. Attendees will not receive the ZOOM link until their registration has been paid in full.
Maria Lucas, KAAN Treasurer
maria.lucas@wichita.edu
Steering Committee Positions
At this year’s annual conference the following positions are up for election:
- Vice-Chair (3-year commitment)
- Treasurer (2-year commitment)
- Communications (2-year commitment)
See: Duties of steering committee positions.
Professional Development
KAAN professional development awards provide current KAAN members the opportunity to seek funding to grow and expand as professionals. Review the guidelines regarding submitting an application for, and receiving, a professional development award.