Advisor of the month: February 2025

What do you enjoy about your role in advising?

It is a privilege to build individual relationships with students during such a dynamic time in their lives. I enjoy learning more about their backgrounds, goals, and achievements. It’s amazing to have a continual relationship with most of my students for their entire college career - it’s fun to watch them grow and progress from Summer Orientation to Graduation. I teach the Psychology First-Year Experience class for incoming transfer students and enjoy learning deeper about these students.

In what ways have you contributed to advising in your department/area?

I revamped our communication plan by creating the Psychology Weekly Announcements and designing a physical bulletin board in Williams Hall that directs our undergraduate students to information about advising and how to be involved on campus. I also advocated for the Psychology First-Year Experience courses to be changed from an online asynchronous format to an in-person class in order to increase the student community that we can build with our incoming transfer and first-year students.

What advice would you give to other professionals who want to make a difference in the life of their students?

We have the ability to positively share the college experience of our students if we support and encourage students as they grow. I truly spend a lot of time thinking back on and being thankful for the mentors and academic advisors who positively shaped my college experience. I felt very seen and supported during a time where I was going through a lot of change and had pressure to answer big life questions. We can be motivated from a desire to “pay it forward” with our students now.