College of Education represented at Georgia Tech advising conference

July 5, 2017

Presenters at the GTAAN conference included (l-r) Inger Wood; current graduate student Brandon Solie; alumna Christy Curley; and Breanna Calamas.

College of Education alumna Christy Curley (‘12) and current graduate student Brandon Solie presented at the Best Practices in Academic Advising Conference hosted by the Georgia Tech Academic Advising Network (GTAAN) on June 26.

Held on the campus of Georgia Institute of Technology, the conference was attended by advising staff representing colleges and universities from across the state. Curley and Solie both serve as academic advisors for Georgia Southern University’s College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.

“It was so nice to be able to easily network with advisors from schools in our state,” said Curley. “I was able to talk extensively with advisors from Georgia Tech, Kennesaw State and Georgia State.”

Curley and colleagues Breanna Calamas and Inger Wood presented “Advisors and Faculty: In the Students’ Corner.” The panel discussion included insight of advisors being integrated into their corresponding academic departments, creating a relationship between advisors and faculty that is beneficial for the student.

Curley explained that as an academic advisor for the departments of writing and linguistics as well as literature and philosophy, she has a positive working relationship with departmental faculty and staff.

“They have both embraced me as more than just a resource or obligation to the students, but as an integral part of how they function as a department,” she said. “Because I have been so involved with things like curriculum decisions, recruitment and retention efforts, and student events such as senior seminar presentations and graduation banquet, the students have really benefited from the unified support system and having an advocate to voice their needs and concerns.”

Solie’s presentation addressed the academic advisement of student athletes. Utilizing his position as an interdisciplinary studies advisor working with the student athlete population, Solie combined his experience as well as curriculum from his current studies in the master’s of higher education program to present observations and suggestions for advisors working with student athletes.   

The presentation titled, “Student Development in Student Athletes,” discussed both the development and implications of student athletes from a cognitive and psychosocial lens as well as offered insight of implementing accountability measures and clear expectations for student athletes to complete their academic requirements.

“Since I have been in graduate school, I find it more and more fascinating to examine the effect college has on students and how students develop while in college,” said Solie. “I wrote a paper about this topic for a class in graduate school, and this always seems to be a hot topic. I enjoy discussing and learning about how we can assist our student athletes in their academic pursuits.”

GTAAN’s Best Practices Conference is held annually to provide support and networking for academic advisors in higher education setting in Georgia. The goal of the conference is to assist in creating efficient and effective academic advising systems by sharing insight and successful methods for the delivery of academic advising in college and university settings.