Tony Shurer Wins NCAIE Professional Newcomer Award

By Caleb White, DASA Marketing Intern

The North Carolina Association of International Educators (NCAIE) recently announced the winner of its Professional Newcomer Award as Tony Shurer, NC State’s academic coordinator for international student support. This award is presented to an individual who joined an institution of higher education in North Carolina, is within the first five years of their career, and has demonstrated a significant contribution to the field of international affairs.

Elizabeth James, director of the Office of International Services, submitted Shurer’s nomination for the award. In the letter, James wrote that “Tony has been a trailblazer for international student intervention services at NC State and in the field… [He] takes this responsibility seriously as he is constantly documenting and assessing what works in his position to make it a more sustainable and replicable approach. His work has demonstrated a significant contribution to the field of international education.”

James also listed a few of Shurer’s specific achievements throughout his tenure, including:

• advising 25 students, the majority of which being international students; 
• teaching multiple sections of University Studies Course (USC) 101 and 102, including a section reserved mostly for international students; 
• serving as a walk-in advisor for international students; 
• and assisting the Office of International Services (OIS) with orientation programs and other events, such as end-of-term advising for students who are on academic warning or probation. 

When asked for his thoughts on winning the award, Shurer said “Receiving the NCAIE Professional Newcomer Award has been quite meaningful. To start, both the nomination and the outcome were a surprise to me! I work for two offices at NC State — the Office of International Services and Academic Advising Programs and Services. I learned that the content for my nomination was collected from both of these teams. So, on a personal level, it was rewarding to learn how much this work has been valued. The additional feedback I then received from friends and colleagues across the state was also really heartwarming. 

“The award itself was presented at our state conference in early April,” Shurer continued. “I’ve continued to think about this since then. Just the existence of my position is an acknowledgement by NC State that international students experience unique and overlapping challenges related to both immigration and academic success. I think this award highlights the fact that the academic coordinator position is a significant collaboration between my two offices — OIS and AAPS. As it relates to student success, my work in supporting international students is built around the different approaches these offices take. I feel honored and privileged to learn from and to work with two wonderful teams that share this common goal!”

Learn more about the Office of International Services here, and learn more about Academic Advising Programs and Services here.