Baylor Recognizes Exceptional Staff Service at 10th Annual Day of the Advisor Celebration

May 3, 2016
2016 academic advising

From left to right, Wes Null, Laura Scott, Donna Kennedy, Ida Jamshidi and Sinda Vanderpool. Courtesy photo.

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WACO, Texas (May 3, 2016) – Baylor’s advising community recently gathered for the 10th Annual Day of the Advisor to recognize the importance of academic advising and to celebrate and honor the individuals who serve Baylor students as academic advisors.
For the first time, Academic Advising Excellence Awards were presented at the luncheon, recognizing the outstanding achievements of members of Baylor’s advising community.
Award recipients were as follows:
• Donna Kennedy and Margaret Lemon (Information and Technology Services) – for contributions to advising excellence at Baylor
• Laura Scott (University Advisement) – for contributions to the academic advising profession
• Ida Jamshidi (Engineering and Computer Science) – for the 2016 Outstanding Professional Academic Advisor of the Year
“Every single person we looked at was amazing and works so hard,” said Linda Johnson, chair for the Academic Advising Rewards and Recognition Work Group, who selected the award winners from the nominations. “These awards help us set a standard for what we should all strive for. They open our eyes to all the things advisors should be doing.”
Jamshidi, who was named Outstanding Professional Academic Advisor of the Year, said she had no intentions of becoming an academic advisor and describes her journey to the position as “accidentally falling into the career.”
“I fell in love with advising and have a passion for this profession and want to pursue it as a career, not just my first job,” she said.
Scott, who received the award for contributions to the advising profession, recently received a lifetime achievement award from the Texas Academic Advising Network.
Lemon and Kennedy received their award for developing a unified advising system in 2008 to help advisors link information. The system is still used today by many and, according to Johnson, significantly affects all advisors in their day-to-day lives.
For more information, contact Linda Johnson.
by Bethany Harper, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805
ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 16,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.