TABLE OF CONTENTS FRONT PAGE NEXT ARTICLE PREVIOUS ARTICLE
Advising students can be a difficult, thankless job.
For advisors, registration means frantic days as a seemingly endless line of
students visit with questions about courses, grade-point averages and
graduation. At these times an advisor's answers have to be quick and
accurate.
And though the monetary rewards are slight, many advisors cherish having
helped a student pick the right major or graduate on schedule. Advisors
especially appreciate when students say "thank you."
Five advisors recently received a more formal thank you from the University,
winning awards for excellence in student advising.
Dorothy C. Bernholz, James R. Kessler and Sherry L. Salyer each won a
Mickel-Shaw Award, an award the University created last year to honor two
advisors from General College and one from the College of Arts and Sciences.
Anthony Locklear and Sharon Sessoms each won a Class of 1996 Award for
Advising Excellence. This is the first award from the endowment created by the
Class of 1996, which also honors departmental and professional school
advisors.
Each honoree received $500 and a plaque at a recent Faculty Council meeting.
Also, the name of each honoree will be engraved on brass plates on plaques in
the Steele Building.
"These people do this job because they want to do it," said Don Jicha, the
associate dean of the General College. "When people do a stand-out job, they
need to be recognized. These awards are something long needed."
Bernholz
Bernholz joined the University in 1976 and is the director of Carolina Student
Legal Services, Inc. She has been an advisor since 1978, focusing on pre-law
students.
Bernholz makes sure pre-law students really want to become attorneys. She
emphasizes the competitive demands of getting into law school and that being an
attorney isn't as glamorous as L.A. Law makes it appear.
One of the biggest benefits, she said, is running into former advisees who now
are lawyers or judges.
"It's very reinforcing to feel you make an impact in students' lives," she
said. "I can't tell you how many times I walk into a courtroom and the judge or
one of the lawyers tells me I was their advisor."
Kessler
Kessler has worked at the University for the last 14 years and now serves as
director of disability services. He has been an advisor for more than 10 years
and now advises students in geography, physical education, sociology and
leisure studies.
The point he always keeps in mind is to treat students as adults and as
individuals.
"My first rule is that seeing your advisor is fun," Kessler said. "The more
you dread seeing someone, the longer you take to make an appointment. If you
dread going to the dentist, you don't schedule an appointment. I don't want
students to dread seeing me."
Another Kessler rule is that all questions will be answered, a point one
student nominator appreciated, saying simply that Kessler was "always helpful
and there when you need him."
Salyer
Salyer has worked at the University for more than six years and lectures in
the Department of Physical Education, Exercise and Sports Science.
For the more than 200 freshmen and sophomores she advises, Salyer tries to be
an accessible resource at such a large school.
"I hope I can provide a friendly face at the University," she said.
"Especially for freshmen because many of them come from small towns."
One student nominator appreciated Salyer for doing this, saying "she has
helped me personally feel more comfortable at Carolina."
Salyer said she was surprised to win the award and appreciates not only the
personal recognition, but having an annual way to recognize the work advisors
do.
"I think this is a reflection of the University's effort to improve the
advising climate," she said.
Locklear
Locklear came to Carolina in 1994 to take the job he currently holds,
assistant dean for student counseling in the College of Arts and Sciences. For
Locklear, winning the award was a surprise because he thought only faculty
could win.
"When some students said they were going to nominate me I was really touched
that they would take the extra time to think of someone else," Locklear said.
"They've got exams and other things to worry about, so it was a pleasant
surprise."
Locklear said he not only tries to meet each student's needs, but also tries
to challenge students.
"Being challenged is a way of saying, `I think you can do it,'" he said. "One
of the worst things is to indicate, `I don't expect much of you.'"
Locklear said he is glad that University advisors are getting some
recognition.
"There are people who care passionately about the job they are doing in the
little time they have to develop relationships with students," he said. "It's
good for the campus to see the good work advisors are doing."
Sessoms
Sessoms, a student services assistant, has worked at the University for more
than 12 years as an advisor in the biology department.
Sessoms said that during registration advisors' jobs gets frustrating because
they have to help so many people so quickly.
"When a line forms you have to try to answer questions as quickly as you can,"
she said. "But I always try to give them a good answer and an honest answer."
Sessoms always tries to remember what her job looks like from the student's
perspective, something she experiences since she also takes classes at the
University.
""I think it helps me know what it's like," she said. "I know what it means to
want, and get, a straight answer."
To UNC-CH Home Page