Stephanie Wood, advisor par excellence, garnered several awards this year. Wood, an academic advisor at AUSON, won AU’s Outstanding Professional Advising Award in 2020, followed by the 2021 NACADA Regional Excellence in Advising-Advisor Primary Role Award, and now the 2021 NACADA Global Outstanding Advisor-Primary Role Award.
The National Academic Advising Association or NACADA promotes and supports quality academic advising in institutions of higher education to enhance the educational developments of students. The NACADA National Award will be presented to Wood at their annual conference in Cincinnati, in October this year.
NACADA’s vision is to recognize that effective academic advising is at the core of student success. The School of Nursing soldiered through the difficult times created by the pandemic — modified classes continued, labs were virtual, and clinicals were completed by students. Through all this turbulence, one aspect stayed the same, the student support service. Advisors were available to meet with students whenever they needed help.
As an advisor at AUSON, Wood meets with students to discuss their academic goals and how to utilize their college career opportunities to meet their overall career aspirations. She also oversees the holistic admission process for the program.
A graduate of AU’s College of Education (COE), where she received her bachelor’s degree (2008) in elementary education, teaching in elementary school taught her skills like communication and viewing advising as a collaborative experience between teacher/advisor, student, and parents. It also inspired her desire to connect with college-aged students and obtain her master’s degree in higher education administration from COE in 2019.
“The Department of Educational Foundations, Leadership, and Technology at Auburn provided me an opportunity to evaluate current policies and issues in higher education and ultimately guided my passion for a holistic approach in my advising practice and now admission process for our program. The knowledge that I obtained for this degree set a strong foundation for my future success in my higher education endeavors.”
Research has demonstrated that academic advising is more successful when advisors hold face-to-face appointments with their advisees. Particularly with topics like future classes and careers, face-to-face interactions make advising more meaningful for the students. Students place more importance on the supportive and caring nature of their relationship with their advisor than on any particular approach to advising.
“Stephanie certainly is a contributor to the success of our college. This Global Advising Award is an honor among the advising professional organization,” said Pam Hennessey, director of academic advising at the school.
According to AUSON’s Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Caralise Hunt, “Stephanie is a strong student advocate. She consistently goes above and beyond to support students. She and our other advisors assist students to build the foundation they need from pre-nursing classes to be successful in the nursing program.”
