Three NC State advisors recently received honors from NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising.
Erica Kosal, Susannah Lawrence and Shweta Trivedi all received awards as part of NACADA’s Regional Awards Program. NC State is in NACADA’s Region 3, which is made up of higher learning institutions in Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia.
Kosal, the director of the Life Sciences First Year (LSFY) program, received the Excellence in Advising award in the Advising Administrator category. The award recognizes advisors who may provide direct academic advising services to students but whose primary responsibility is as an administrator or director of an academic advising program, having served for three years or more in that role.
In her role as director of the LSFY program, Kosal recruits, trains, hires and develops advisors who are cross-curricular in their approach and have an in-depth understanding of what NC State can offer students. The program was started at NC State to give students an opportunity to learn about majors in both the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Sciences before deciding which one to enter.
Lawrence, an assistant director and master advisor in University Advising and Exploratory Studies, won the award for Excellence in Advising as a Primary Role Advisor. This award goes to individuals whose primary role is the direct delivery of advising to students.
Lawrence advises students in Exploratory Studies and leads the unit’s advisor training and development team, which is responsible for developing and implementing continuous training and development to support academic advisors’ skills, tools and policy understanding.
Trivedi, a teaching professor in the Department of Animal Science, has been presented the award for Excellence in Advising in the Faculty Advising Category. The award goes to advisors who spend at least 50% of their time on teaching or research.
Trivedi established the Veterinary Professions Advising Center (VetPAC) at NC State. This program is the only undergraduate advising center for pre-veterinary students at a land grant university in the United States. The goal of VetPAC is to provide NC State students and alumni the guidance, resources and experience necessary to stand out as veterinary school applicants.
Winners of the Excellence in Advising Awards will be recognized at the upcoming annual NACADA regional conference April 15-17, 2024, in Greenville, South Carolina.
