Ballots will be sent to all active members on Wednesday, June 24. Please check the email listed on your NODA profile for instructions. Voting will close on July 1, 2026 at 12:00 pm CST. If you need assistance, please contact NODA at noda@umn.edu.
President Elect Candidates
Candidate Materials
Jordan Holliday-Millard
Director of Enrollment Programs & Communications
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Introduction Video
Résumé
Why are you applying for an elected position and what skills/experience will you bring to this role?
Over the past 15 years, I’ve invested deeply in my NODA membership, starting way back as a NODA Intern. As we often tell our students, you get out of it what you put into it, and NODA serves as an example of this adage for me. That NODA internship led to my first position in higher education, and my supervisor’s involvement in the organization demonstrated to me all the ways NODA leadership both complimented and augmented the work we do on our campuses. Since then, I’ve gone on to hold multiple elected and appointed leadership roles throughout the Association, both regionally and nationally. I served on multiple conference committees, including serving as the conference planning committee chair for the 2018 San Diego conference, completed two terms as a Regional Coordinator, and now serve as a General Board Member. All of these experiences have given me depth and breadth of knowledge about how the Association operates, its opportunities for continued success, and the roadblocks that members and the Association writ large face. This institutional knowledge will be a direct asset as we develop our next three-to-five year strategic plan.
Through my professional and NODA leadership experience, I developed skills that directly support my success as President-Elect:
- Strategic planning: My top strength is strategic thinking. My current work with OT&R programs and enrollment marketing requires me to engage frequently in strategic planning to achieve our enrollment goals, from determining our audience strategy and developing our enrollment marketing plan to building our roadmap for Slate usage with orientation.
- Navigating competing priorities: With an office made up of two different functions, I’m adept at navigating competing priorities and managing teams with different needs, processes, and timelines, all while building a team that is committed to each other’s success.
- Coalition-building: I hold a deep commitment to teamwork and seek to build coalitions, especially during change management. For example, I developed and implemented an enrollment marketing working group on my campus to work toward alignment and consistency between undergraduate, graduate, and online marketing initiatives.
Each of these skills directly connects to the three focus areas I will prioritize as President-Elect, in addition to the ongoing strategic planning work:
Strengthen our Association as higher education faces ongoing transitions and challenges: It’s no secret that our field continues to encounter significant change, such as institutional and national policy shifts, new technologies, and shifting resource availability. Professional associations sit at the center of this change, and NODA is not immune. My strategic planning experience positions me to help ensure NODA continues to provide what our members need and can’t get anywhere else. Some potential actions include:
- Drafting and approving a comprehensive strategic plan that provides a multi-year roadmap for all levels of leadership
- Benchmarking NODA’s market position and how our members are making professional development spending decisions
- Improving opportunities, resources, and engagement for members working in transition and retention positions
- Strengthening strategic partnerships with sister associations that benefit our members, such as AHEPPP and FYE
Improving the member engagement experience: You, our members, are the lifeblood of this organization. Without you, NODA doesn’t exist. My experience navigating resource constraints and competing priorities informs how I think about ensuring all members can engage and build connections no matter their access. This can include:
- Reviewing current NODA Connect and communications technology to identify the best platform for our members
- Continuing to develop an easily accessible and usable resource library for members
- Assessing our current virtual offerings to determine member need and market alignment
- Keeping costs as low as possible for in-person events
Building stronger coalitions and pathways to leadership: As OT&R professionals, we know we achieve the best outcomes when we work together, and coalition-building is central to how I lead. Elected leaders’ number one job is thinking of members and their experience with NODA, and that means being open to feedback and including as many people in the conversation as possible, especially those most affected by our decisions. Ways I would address this include:
- Assessing current leadership pathways for potential roadblocks, including direct member feedback
- Using technology to better identify and deliver leadership opportunities to members based on their interests and experiences
- Bolstering cross-committee work to build better bridges across the Association
While these speak to specific initiatives, you also deserve to know who I am as a leader. My top two values are authenticity and impact on others. Authenticity means you can depend on me to be real and transparent, and I will work to ensure that our Association remains a place where people can bring their own authenticity to their engagement. My other value — impact on others — means that I care deeply about how my actions and my colleagues’ actions impact those around me. Whether that’s a decision about a Board policy, the location of a conference, or how available I am to members, I work hard to make sure that I’m improving the lives of those around me. I have a banner in my office that says “Give a Damn,” and that’s one thing you can count on — I’m always going to give a damn about NODA and its members.
Describe your approach to considering the various communities, institution types, and membership types when making decisions. Provide examples of how you have advocated for a variety of communities in other roles.
One of my top two values is impact on others, and this value is at the center of how I approach decision-making on behalf of a diverse membership. As an elected leader, it is my responsibility to stay genuinely aware of member needs, not just through staying engaged in the field, but through building intentional relationships across the spectrum of identities, geographic areas, and institution types that make up our Association. It is equally my responsibility to recognize when the right voices aren’t at the table and to create space for them. This is where my commitment to coalition-building becomes most important, and it is something I am eager to continue as a member of the Executive Committee.
Some examples from my professional and NODA leadership experience include:
- Implementation of NODA Communities: As Regional Coordinator and later as a General Board Member serving as liaison to the Regional Coordination Committee, I was positioned to advocate for the regions (particularly around the variety of experiences) as Board conversations evolved around the communities model. I worked to ensure that member voices from across geographic areas and institution types were represented in those discussions, ultimately helping shepherd the implementation of the RCC’s work through Board motions in 2024.
- Changing our orientation model: When overhauling our orientation program model in 2023, I proactively gathered perspectives from partners across advising, admissions, and technology through 1:1s and stakeholder groups to surface timing, technology, and communication gaps. Recognizing that different campus communities would be impacted differently, I worked to ensure each had a seat in the process, and those relationships directly shaped our outcomes: expanded advisor schedule customization, deeper use of Slate for admissions transparency, and a revised calendar giving campus more runway ahead of each term.
- Supporting academic colleges in recruitment communications: In 2024, I conducted 1:1 meetings with communicators across all academic colleges to understand how they were being asked to engage with recruitment and enrollment marketing efforts. Colleges varied significantly in their capacity, priorities, and existing relationships with enrollment, and this process allowed me to surface those differences, identify common themes, and advocate for their varied needs with communications and enrollment leadership rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach.
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Jonathan Tunwar
Associate Dean of Students and Director of New Student and Family Programs
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Why are you applying for an elected position and what skills/experience will you bring to this role?
I am excited to express my candidacy for President-Elect of NODA. Over the past three years serving on the Board, I have gained valuable insight into NODA’s challenges, opportunities and the work being done across our association. My decision to apply stems from a deep commitment to fostering positive, impactful experiences for students and families during their transition to and through higher education, and from a conviction that NODA is positioned to lead our field through unprecedented challenges.
With over 10 years of experience across different types of institutions in multiple states, I have learned about the challenges and opportunities of supporting students and staff. As a current board member, I have served on both the Finance Committee and Communities Implementation Committee, expanding my understanding of NODA’s operations and strategic priorities.
I also served as a member of the 2022 Annual Conference Planning Committee and as Co-Chair of the Graduate Student Network. Through my work on the UMass Amherst Strategic Plan Working Group and the Student Affairs Strategic Plan Implementation Planning Committee, I have shown strong strategic thinking. My ability to collaborate with diverse stakeholders, NODA leadership, staff, and administrators has been central to my success.
My focus will be on board efficiency, accountability, and transparency while also centering our work on people: our members and the students they serve. With you, I will ensure NODA remains at the forefront of excellence in higher education.
Describe your approach to considering the various communities, institution types, and membership types when making decisions. Provide examples of how you have advocated for a variety of communities in other roles.
As President-Elect, my responsibility is to ensure that NODA’s decisions reflect and serve the full spectrum of our membership, from different institution types and geographic regions to varied roles, identities, and professional experiences. This requires intentional leadership grounded in genuine understanding.
I approach this work through three interconnected lenses. First, I recognize that diversity extends far beyond representation; it encompasses the varied perspectives, professional experiences, and backgrounds our members bring. Second, I understand that equity demands we actively identify and dismantle systemic barriers; it’s not passive inclusion, but active liberation. Third, I’m committed to fostering environments where every member, regardless of institution type or role, genuinely feels heard and valued in our association’s work.
Early in my career at Sam Houston State University, I led equity-focused training for student leaders and facilitated meaningful dialogues around cultural competency during a critical national moment. At Virginia Tech, I helped launch an expanded transition program that intentionally created spaces celebrating diverse identities and built community for students with historically marginalized backgrounds.
In my current role at UMass Amherst, I’ve worked to remove financial barriers by identifying families in need, covering orientation costs, and ensuring access shouldn’t depend on the ability to pay.
These experiences have taught me that DEI work is not an initiative to check off; it’s foundational to everything we do. As President-Elect, I will advocate for policies and decisions that center equity, ensure our communities feel represented in strategic planning, and hold our association accountable to our values. NODA’s strength lies in our diversity of thought and experience, and my leadership will ensure we harness that power for all our members.
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