This year the Academic Advising Council presented eight campus advisors with awards for excellence in academic advising. Each year AAC recognizes academic advisors and faculty advisors for outstanding academic advising practices. Additional categories were created to recognize the hard work and dedication that campus advisors have had during the past academic year.

Applicants are nominated by their department and selections are 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.

The winners for the 2021 Academic Advising Awards are:

• Guadalupe Rodriguez, Outstanding New Advisor of the Year
• Katie Pounders, Outstanding Advisor of the Year
• Robert F. Saunders, Outstanding Faculty Advisor of the Year
• Amanda Jacobson, Innovative Advising Award
• Erica Langley, Innovative Advising Award
• Meagon S. Clarkson-Guyll, Leading with Brilliance Award
• Jill Geisler Wheeler, Sage Advisor Award
• Leigh Southward, Keeping it Professional

AAC will be highlighting the award winners and their accomplishments with future articles.

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.