Courtney Luxon Named Advisor of the Year

Courtney Luxon, academic advisor in the School of Health and Kinesiology, has been named Academic Advisor of the Year. She will receive her award at the Faculty Senate/Staff Advisory Council Banquet on May 10.

Academic advising is recognized as at “the very core of successful institutional efforts to educate and retain students” (Tinto, 1987). It may be the “single most underestimated characteristic of a successful college expereince” (Light, 2001).

The Advisor of the Year award was created to recognize and honor advisors for their:

1. Contribution and service to students and academic advising on campus
2. Advocacy and collaboration for students and academic advising best practices
3. Initiative and attitude in improving academic advising

Courtney’s nominators describe her as a “champion for students.” They share that this positive advisor goes the extra mile to encourage students to seek out professional development opportunities and explore graduate work. She has worked extensively on assessment, assisting with data collection in support of the Public Health program’s accreditation and helping to develop a tool used to track student progress in the College of Education. But beyond the numbers, compassion is the key to Courtney’s practice as an advisor. A faculty member writes, “she works hard to understand the lives and challenges of the students,” and to relay this to the faculty to inform their decisions.

Courtney not only serves her students and department, but is active in other roles on campus. She is involved in the Academic Advisors Council and she also has been elected to Staff Advisory Council.