Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences recently announced the appointment of Jill Geisler Wheeler as director of honors and experiential learning within the Office of Undergraduate Excellence and Global Engagement. In this position, Wheeler will be responsible for the operations of the Fulbright Honors Studies Program, which serves over 1,200 undergraduate students.

She will also lead efforts to expand undergraduate research and other experiential and high-impact learning opportunities in partnership with Fulbright departments and programs. Her duties will include supervision of the peer mentoring networks that support honors scholars, programming for the cohort of undergraduates receiving the prestigious Sturgis Fellowship and coordination of the Honors Council and faculty directors of honors capstone and thesis research.  

A native of Brinkley, Wheeler attended the U of A and earned three undergraduate and graduate degrees, including a B.S.B.A. in marketing, an M.E. in higher education and an M.S. in counselor education. Prior to her new appointment, Wheeler served for nearly 20 years at the U of A, beginning as a recruiter in the Office of Admissions and later becoming an academic adviser and assistant director in the Fulbright College Advising Center.

In the last 10 years, she has been the associate director of honors studies in Fulbright College. She has also been a regular instructor in the University Perspectives program for first-year students, and she is a past president of ArkAAN, the Arkansas Academic Advising Network, and an elected officer in NACADA, the National Academic Advising Association. She has presented and published on the first-year student experience, the veteran experience at the university and on challenges related to belonging for high-achieving students. 

In 2023, Wheeler was recognized as Employee of the Second Quarter in part for her excellence in managing grants and fellowships and maintaining student support in Fulbright honors studies. Her colleagues also praised Wheeler's work with over 350 first-year students and her efforts at national conferences to raise the profile of the program.

"Jill Geisler Wheeler brings a wealth of experience to our office," said J. Laurence Hare, executive director of undergraduate excellence and global engagement, "but she also brings an amazing record of promoting success in a large honors program through tireless mentoring of students on an individual level. Nearly every day, I hear from honors students, past and present, who speak of the ways that Jill helped them thrive in the program and exceed expectations. My colleagues and I are delighted that she is taking on this new role."