The Excellence in Advising Award was recently awarded to BSSW Academic Advisor Amanda Gandy. This award is designed to recognize excellence in advising and specifically seeks to reward those individuals who are uniquely effective in their roles and make exceptional contributions to student life, in traditional (classroom) or nontraditional educational settings.

The Excellence in Advising award recognizes the integral role of academic advising in the teaching mission of the university. This award seeks to reward individuals who are uniquely effective in helping students meet their educational and professional goals for a minimum of three years.

“I want every student to leave their advising experience feeling heard,” said Gandy “I want them to understand the importance and rationale of their college experiences.  These experiences can be academic or experiential.  I want students to learn to identify and use their unique strengths and abilities to be successful. As a result of advising I want students to feel empowered and confident in their professional and academic choices.”

Gandy has been at the College of Social Work for 3.5 years and advises BSSW students from admission to graduation.  She works closely with students to problem solve and build off their strengths to help them reach their goals.

When asked about her advising philosophy, Gandy stated, “My personal philosophy of academic advising focuses on the relationship between the advisor and advisee. This relationship requires collaboration; allowing the advisor to grow in their understanding of the advisee and their experiences within the intuition while the advisee grows in their understanding of themselves, the institution, and their curriculum. Through the relationship that is created in advising, I aim to empower students to reach their academic and professional goals. I want every student to leave their advising experience feeling heard.  I want them to understand the importance and rational of their college experiences.  These experiences can be academic or experiential.  I want students to learn to identify and use their unique strengths and abilities to be successful. As a result of advising I want students to feel empowered and confident in their professional and academic choices.”