Advisor of the Month is an award in which staff on campus who have academic advising roles can give their advising peers recognition for their ability to go above and beyond in their roles and with students.
September’s Advisor of the Month is Shelley Nicholson, assistant director for PreHealth in the Preprofessional Advising Office on campus.
Her nominations for this award speak volumes for the role modeling, creativity and passion she has put into the advising field:
“…Shelley has an engaging and informal manner that encourages students to be upfront with their anxieties about the prospects of applying to medical school. Once students share with her their specific concerns, Shelley systematically addresses each one and suggests practical steps to resolve them.”
“…she demonstrated excellent organization and communication skills. Because of her, we were able to help a record number of students in the registration lab without significant challenges. We believe Shelley demonstrated the first three phases of Appreciative Advising (Disarm, Discover and Dream) towards those freshman students.”
Shelley also shared with us how she got into advising and what inspires her:
“After graduating from Humboldt State University in California, I came to the University of Utah to get my master’s degree in education. Since my time at Humboldt, every job I’ve had has been at a college or university because I love working with college students and all that it encompasses. It’s important for me to do what I can to connect to and relate to the people I work with; students, their supporters, staff, etc. College can be really fun, as well as difficult and complicated. As an academic advisor of prehealth students in the PreProfessional Advising office, I get to help them figure out how to navigate the complexities of higher education to be successful not only in college, but also in their pursuit of admission to competitive professional programs. My students are passionate, driven, and incredibly inspiring, and I am humbled when I meet with them. When they open up to me and let me learn about who they are and their motivations to pursue their dreams of a career in health care, it reminds me of the honor it is to be an advisor. I love my job!”
Though the Advisor of the Month Award is for peer-to-peer nominations, you are welcome to nominate an advisor who has impacted your time at the university regardless of your faculty, staff or student status for Advisor of the Year. This nomination process opens Oct. 1 and goes until Nov. 2. You can cast your vote for Advisor of the Year here.
Do you need to meet with an advisor to help create, navigate and graduate? See our advisors across campus on our website and schedule an appointment at advising.utah.edu.