澳门官方app网址提名博士. 卡门·斯蒂芬森担任首任学术顾问主任
10月. 13, 2023
In an effort to improve academic performance and elevate the student academic experience, 澳门官方app网址已任命博士. Karmen斯蒂芬森 as the institution’s inaugural director of academic advising.
斯蒂芬森, who most recently served two years as the academic affairs coordinator for the University of Tennessee University Honors program, 将设计, 领导和监督学术建议，作为学生旅程的一个组成部分, from first-year experiences for new students to collaboration with other partners and departments across campus to the facilitation of training and development for students, 教职员工顾问.
“这是一个新职位，这一事实令人望而生畏, 但我相信这可能是这个角色最令人兴奋的地方,斯蒂芬森说. “这是一个与教师合作的机会, 员工在校园和学生之间的合作伙伴, and I hope that these collaborations will result in the creation of an advising center that is an integral component of the 澳门威尼斯人网站 community for learning and that will promote the fulfillment of the 澳门威尼斯人网站 mission and vision.
“I enjoy investigating structures and processes and figuring out what is going well — what things we should celebrate and where we should continue investing our energy and resources. I also like the challenge of identifying obstacles and opportunities for growth and improvement, 我喜欢帮助制定策略和解决方案. 我在澳门官方app网址的头几天, 我有幸见到了许多教职员工, 我也渴望了解我们的学生.”
已经, she shares a trait in common with them: Her lived experience of studying everything to prepare for anything is a mirror image of the journey 澳门威尼斯人网站 undergraduates embark upon during their time at the College. 她带着对视觉艺术的浓厚兴趣进入高中, 舞蹈和音乐, and her studies at a magnet academy for science and mathematics broadened her academic 利益. 在北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校, she majored in both anthropology and 西班牙语 because choosing one over the other seemed impossible, 她说.
许多年以后, 我可以看到，这些研究领域吸引了我对社会科学的兴趣, 艺术与人文, and even the natural sciences due to the breadth of scholarly inquiry that is possible in these fields,”她说。. “在我本科学习之后, I worked as a high school 西班牙语 teacher for several years before pursuing graduate study. 教书并不是我有意进入的职业道路, but it was a fantastic opportunity to use my degree to do work that I feel is important and meaningful.”
她参加了德克萨斯大学人类学硕士课程, choosing to focus on cultural anthropology thanks to her experiences as a teacher. 教育人类学成为一种激情, 她的研究重点是K-12教育中的各种文化主题, and her graduate assistantship in academic advising helped her develop a comprehensive understanding of student experiences and made her a better educator, 她说.
“我还对学术咨询方面的奖学金产生了兴趣, 尤其是在理论和哲学方面,”她说。. “I found that advising gave me the opportunity to work with students one-on-one and in the classroom, and that I could employ the pedagogical methods and theories that I had been utilizing and studying for years to do scholarly work in the field. While I did not go into this graduate assistantship with a career in academic advising in mind, 我很快发现这个职位非常适合我.”
完成博士学位后.D. 2018年人类学杂志, she served as a full-time academic advisor for three years at UT before being promoted to her most recent role, in which she served as honors coach to undergraduate students in the University Honors program; advised students on the development of research undergraduate thesis and capstone projects; and facilitated faculty connections as well as networking and mentorship relationships.
“I believe that good academic advising does not just ensure that students take the right classes to earn their degrees and graduate on time,斯蒂芬森说. “良好的学术指导能让学生进行自我探索, to connect their academics with experiential learning and 职业准备 activities, and to design their path from education to career and to see the many trajectories that are possible with their own unique combinations of strengths, 利益, 以及学术和实践经验.
“I have always been a proponent of liberal arts education and I admire 澳门威尼斯人网站’s focus on developing strong academic and practically applicable skills via the robust core curriculum present in all programs of study. The opportunity to help develop an academic advising structure that supports students as they enter the College, prepare to declare a major (or sometimes transition majors) and navigate their undergraduate careers is exciting in itself, and particularly so given the dedication to academic advising and student support that is evident in the 澳门威尼斯人网站 faculty and staff.”
With the newly created position filled by an educator of 斯蒂芬森’s caliber and qualifications, the student academic experience at 澳门威尼斯人网站 will be a more rewarding one, 根据 Dr. 丹Klingensmith副院长兼院长. 而她的角色将适用于所有学生的时间表变化, 推荐和解决问题, new students and those considering a change of major will find her office especially helpful, 他补充说.
“Dr. Karmen斯蒂芬森 brings an extensive background in academic advising and success to 澳门威尼斯人网站,他说. “We are making a focused effort to improve academic advising over the next few years, as a part of improving the student experience and making the path to graduation easier. 作为我们第一个全职学术指导主任, her considerable professional knowledge and her focus on how we advise students, 尤其是在他们即将进入大学的时候, 会对我们的成功很有价值吗.”