Tish Pohl and Jason Adams Named Academic Advisors of the Year

The University of Arkansas Academic Advising Council is pleased to announce the recipients for the 2016-2017 Outstanding Advisor Award. Tish Pohl of the College of Engineering is the outstanding faculty advisor, and Jason Adams of the Walton College of Business Honors Program has been selected outstanding professional advisor. 

As recipients of the advising awards, Pohl and Adams will be nominated for national recognition through the National Academic Advising Association, the Global Community for Academic Advising.  Additionally, each will present on campus at the fall Academic Advising Council workshop, sharing their philosophies of academic advising with the UA community.   

Pohl and Adams were selected by the Academic Advising Council from a pool of nominees representing all six colleges for their continued evidence of qualities and practices as outstanding academic advisors. Typical qualities include strong interpersonal skills, availability, frequency of contact, referral to campus resources, knowledge of institutional and college policies and procedures, and caring and helpful attitudes toward students.   

Pohl is a clinical assistant professor in industrial engineering and is the academic advisor for all industrial engineering undergraduate students. Pohl says that her advising philosophy is "quite simple." She wants her students to "be the best they can be" acknowledging that "this means something different for each student" who walks into her office.  A current advisee captured Pohl's ability to personalize the academic advising experience in a letter of support stating that Pohl "tailored my advising meeting to the specific needs of my curriculum and never failed to suggest all of the opportunities or avenues available within the department."

In addition to advising all undergraduate industrial engineering majors, Pohl teaches five courses throughout the academic year and serves as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) coordinator for the Department of Industrial Engineering.    

Jason Adams is the associate director of the Walton College honors program and is responsible for the academic advising of all Walton College honors students from orientation and freshman Business Connections through senior honors thesis. Adams stresses the importance of the advising relationship stating that "through actively listening to students and communicating with them clearly a trust is built over time."

In a letter of support, a Walton honors alumnus speaks to the effectiveness of this long-term relationship. "Day after day, month after month, semester after semester, Jason's genuine interest in seeing me succeed — both at Arkansas and beyond — matched my own passion for the same." Additionally, Adams launched a peer mentoring program pairing new freshmen in their first semester with seasoned sophomores and established the Honors Student Executive Board as a forum for communication between students, faculty, and administration.   

About the Academic Advising Council: The council serves as the advisory group for undergraduate academic advising and reports to the provost regarding all matters related to its charge. The Academic Advising Council is charged with assisting the institution to increase the academic success and retention of undergraduate students by highlighting and providing additional support to the academic advising processes. In addition to advising enrichment programming, the council recommends to the provost goals, procedures and standards for advising, including strategies for the evaluation of advising quality and outcomes.