Adrienne Gaines and Scott Osborn Named Academic Advisors of the Year

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Adrienne Gaines and Scott Osborn

Adrienne Gaines and Scott Osborn, both from the College of Engineering, have been selected by the University of Arkansas Academic Advising Council as 2017-18 outstanding academic advisors.  

The Academic Advising Council recognizes two academic advisors annually, one professional advisor and one faculty advisor. Adrienne Gaines, associate director of the freshman engineering program, is the outstanding professional advisor and Scott Osborn, professor of biological and agricultural engineering, the outstanding faculty advisor. 

Applicants are nominated by their department, provide a detailed advising philosophy, and offer supporting documents.  Selections were made by the Academic Advising Council from a pool of nominees for overwhelming evidence of qualities and practices that include availability to students, interpersonal skills, mastery of institutional policies and procedures, appropriate referrals to resources, monitoring of student progress and goals, and ongoing partnership with colleagues and students.

Gaines and Osborn will receive a professional development stipend and consideration for national academic advising awards through the National Academic Advising Association.                

For the past four years, Adrienne Gaines has served as the associate director of the Freshman Engineering Program, overseeing academic advising and advising initiatives for the 800 students enrolled in the program. About her role, Gaines states that she is "responsible for anything outside the classroom that keeps students in the classroom."

For the Freshman Engineering Program, this includes orientation, teaching, advising, and peer mentoring, where Gaines works to reinforce academic development and success. Her efforts are applauded by engineering faculty, staff, and students. Emily Miller, administrative assistant for the Freshman Engineering Program, says that she has never seen Gaines approach a student with "anything less than a full commitment to the student's needs," and Kristen Karpinski from CLASS-plus raves that Adrienne Gaines is "one of the most caring, intelligent, and humble professionals" on campus.

Of Gaines, a former advisee shares that "more than providing temporary assurance that I was successfully completing my [academic] track, she provided assurance that I was equipped mentally, emotionally, and spiritually to complete my goals."

Prior to joining the Freshman Engineering Program, Gaines served as an academic advisor in Sam M. Walton College of Business, as program assistant for New Student and Family Programs, and as the campus coordinator for UA Success.

Scott Osborn is an associate professor of engineering in the department of biological and agricultural engineering.  As part of his advising philosophy, Osborn individualizes the academic advising experience for his students, believing that "advising and mentoring are about helping another adult get to where they have decided to go, and the best way to advise them is to accept them for who and where they are today."

As a current advisee states, Osborn is "able to make each student feel as though we are just where we need to be in our lives." In his letter of nomination, professor Otto Loewer maintains that "Osborn is the best comprehensive advisor, where 'comprehensive' goes well beyond aligning a student's selection of courses … and includes a philosophical approach to advising that speaks to a wide range of life choices."

In addition to teaching and advising for the department of biological & agricultural engineering, Osborn researches for the U of A Division of Agriculture's Agricultural Experiments Station and participates in extension outreach through the Division's Cooperative Extension Service.  In his department, Scott Osborn has been recognized for outstanding teaching five times, mentoring four times, and service twice. In 2013, Osborn received the John Imhoff award for outstanding teaching and the following year was named outstanding student advisor by the Bumpers College Alumni Society. 

About the AAC: The Academic Advising 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 Academic Advising Council recommends to the provost goals, procedures and standards for advising, including strategies for the evaluation of advising quality and outcomes.