Professional Organizations

UW–Madison advising, career services, and learning support professionals are encouraged to utilize resources from the following regional or national organizations. There are many benefits to joining a professional organization or attending one of their events, including:

Networking: Create professional relationships and connect to your peers
Career Development: Involvement may be listed on a resume to show dedication to your profession. Some organizations may also offer career resources.
Advancing Professional Core Competencies: The following organizations have a wealth of knowledge in the form of articles, newsletters, case studies, book recommendations, or videos.

If you have additional professional organizations to recommend, please contact the Office of Academic & Career Success at info@advising.wisc.edu. New staff are also encouraged to contact us if they would like to connect to an experienced staff member who can answer questions about their experience with one or more of these organizations.

Organizations with UW-Madison Institutional Memberships

National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE)

The National Association of Colleges and Employers connects campus recruiting and career services professionals, and provides best practices, trends, research, professional development, and conferences. UW–Madison has an institutional membership for NACE. Contact danielle.marriner@wisc.edu for more information.

Wisconsin Academic Advising Association (WACADA)

WACADA represents the entire advising spectrum including administrators, counselors, and advisors. The primary goal is to provide members with opportunities for networking, professional development, and to support and promote professional standards of academic advising. To gain access to OACS' institutional membership, visit the WACADA website to register as an individual (membership only) using the coupon code WACADAInstMemUWMadison when prompted for payment. Once you have entered the coupon code, click “Register”. Reach out info.oacs@wisc.edu with questions.

Career Leadership Collective

The Career Leadership Collective is a network of innovators and leaders, and a solutions group that highlights the innovative, extraordinary, and uniquely helpful in college and university career services in order to assist all levels of leaders with change, innovation, cross-campus integrations, and healthy organizational growth. UW-Madison has an institutional membership. Use your wisc.edu and University of Wisconsin-Madison to create an account and gain membership.

Hire Big 10+ Career Consortium

The Hire Big 10+ Career Consortium is a network of dedicated career services professionals from the Big Ten schools, as well as DePaul University, the University of Chicago, and the University of Notre Dame. This group is dedicated to expanding the professional practices of career services as it relates to career counseling/advising, employer relations, and programming. As a member of a Big 10+ school, you can request a free membership by visiting the link.

More Professional Organizations

National Career Development Association (NCDA)

NCDA provides programs and services for career development professionals and for the public involved with or interested in career development, including, but not limited to, professional development activities, publications, research, general information, professional standards, advocacy, and recognition for achievement and service.

Wisconsin Career Development Association (WCDA)

WCDA members are career development practitioners in many different settings including higher education, private practice, K-12, workforce centers, and business and industry.

International College Learning Center Association

The International College Learning Center Association (ICLCA) is an organization of professionals dedicated to promoting excellence among learning center personnel. ICLCA welcomes any individual interested in assisting college and university students along the road to academic success.