College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Iowa State University

Adviser extraordinaire

Top LAS advising honor awarded to psychology's Susan Williams.
Things have dramatically changed in her job since Susan Williams joined the Department of Psychology to fill the newly created position of undergraduate academic advisor in 1994.

Back then she was the sole advisor for almost 600 psychology majors. Now she coordinates a staff of two graduate advisors and has responsibility for almost 800 students. Williams advises more students than any other full-time advisor on campus.

The demands of students and parents have grown by leaps and bounds. Now instead of just focusing on what courses a student can take, Williams helps students obtain internships and admission to graduate school.

And then there are the added challenges of constant e-mails.

"We talk about everything with the students," Williams says, "from internships to volunteer work to potential jobs and grad school questions."

Williams has thrived in those challenges and this past spring was named the recipient of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences' Ruth W. Swenson Award for Outstanding Advising. This award recognizes outstanding performance as an undergraduate academic advisor over an extended period of time.

Williams says she and the two graduate assistants serve as the first level of advising in the Department of Psychology.

"We handle the 'technical' details of advising including course requirements, determining the accuracy of academic records, reviewing course selections, and describing various procedures," she said.

Faculty members in the department provide a second level of advising where they discuss more career-based questions with psychology majors.

"Psychology is a very broad major," Williams said. “"Many students are interested in the subject and say they want to help people, but they don't know how they want to do that."

Williams and her staff meet with each psychology student to help them through these issues. She also teaches those students in Orientation to Psychology (Psych 111). Required of all psychology majors, the course explains program requirements and degree/career options.

Over the years, Williams has also developed methods to communicate to the large number of psychology majors. A psychology degree audit worksheet for all majors has been created and Williams also sends out an e-mail bulletin every Wednesday to psychology majors that covers issues like class scheduling, internships, research opportunities and graduate school.

Another group of students are also beginning to frequent Williams' office these days. Prospective students and their parents are demanding more and more information about academic programs before making their college choice.

"It's not unusual to see several prospective students and their families a week," she said. "Not only do they want to know about our particular academic offerings, but they are interested in what their child can do with the degree and ultimately will they (the students) be able to make a good living after graduating."

All of which makes each day in academic advising enjoyable for Williams.

"This is not a boring job,”" she said. "There's always something different. It may be the same questions, but those questions usually have a different twist."