Excellence in Advising 2020

Celebrating Our Collective Efforts (December 2020)

Celebrating Our Collective Efforts (UCB Advising and Student Services) 12 14 20

Please join us Monday, December 14th from 3:00-4:30 p.m. to celebrate the collective efforts of our advising and student services community! We look forward to honoring your on-going hard work and dedication to supporting students and each other during these deeply challenging times. We know that each of you is doing the best you can to support our students and each other during a very stressful situation that includes almost daily challenges to your mental, spiritual and physical well-being. And we look forward to spending time together for some much needed joy, laughter, music, games, and prizes!  

Supervisors: you are encouraged to grant release time for your staff to attend this event.

All are invited to contribute successes, gratitude, and affirmations of good things that have happened this year to our Student Services Community Kudoboard

Please RSVP by December 7th. You will then be added to the event on bCal which will include the Zoom link.

November 13 update on 2020 advising and student services awards cycle:

With an abundance of mixed emotions, we have decided to postpone our awards process this year, and we apologize for coming to this conclusion after the nomination period has ended. This decision was not made lightly. 

During the award nomination period, we received feedback that during this challenging year, it is particularly difficult and problematic to attempt to apply a measure of "excellence" among the advising community.

Over the past several weeks, our committee has had numerous conversations about whether we should proceed with the awards this year, especially after learning that the Chancellor’s Outstanding Staff Awards have been cancelled to recognize the extraordinarily traumatic events of 2020 and the impact they have had on all staff.  

We see issues of equity in terms of who is able to "excel" right now as well as in who has the bandwidth to nominate their staff. Economic and basic needs issues (including loss of jobs among family members), family care, parenting and home schooling responsibilities, fire/climate danger, technology access, police violence and racial injustice impact our populations differently. These experiences are compounded for those of us who are from minoritized groups and for whom the amount of effort to navigate a day goes beyond the advising work. 

We believe that what our staff need most at this time is encouragement and community, as well as affirmation that we are doing our best in these challenging circumstances. 

We have decided to transform our December 14th event into a celebration of our collective efforts, with interactive appreciations, games, music, and acknowledgements of all that we have been through this year.  

We look forward to celebrating with you on December 14th.

2020 Event Planning Committee

Michael Cervantes, Student Services Advisor, Cal Student Central

Melissa Charles, Assistant Director, African American Student Development, Centers for Educational Justice & Community Engagement

Daniel Choi, Assistant Dean/Director, LEAD Center

Amber Dillon, International Academic Specialist, Summer Sessions, Study Abroad and Life Long Learning

Ivor Emmanuel, Director, Berkeley International Office

Barbara Felkins, Director Academic Affairs, Undergraduate Programs, Haas School of Business

Susan Hagstrom, Manager of Advising Strategy and Training

Louise Hon, Study Abroad Advisor, Berkeley Study Abroad

Julian Ledesma, Executive Director, Centers for Educational Equity and Excellence (CE3)

Lauren Magsanay, Student Services Advisor, Berkeley Global, UC Berkeley Extension

Sharon Mueller, Director of Advising and Policy, Engineering Student Services

La Shana Porlaris, Graduate Student Services Advisor, Department of Statistics, College of Letters and Science