By Ashley Sibisi
With 30 years of experience in higher education, Amy Mason can be considered to be a Swiss army knife because of her versatile skill set. She is an academic advisor, teaches a college transition course, and manages the ACES program on campus.
Helping students understand the correlation between academic goals and life goals is central to Mason`s work as an academic advisor.
“Academic advising is an opportunity to help students understand how the classes they take connect within the academic curriculum and how that degree connects with the life they hope to live after obtaining that degree,” Mason said.
Mason is also in charge of the ACES program which provides academic services for students. This program helps students with academic disabilities and enhances student learning skills through academic coaching. With the goal to help students improve academically, the ACES program also serves as a primary tutoring center and an alternate study area.
The list of things Mason does here on campus seems endless because of the amount of work she puts forth helping students. For instance, while directing academic services, she also manages probation classes, helping students with academic woes re-establish themselves. Consulting with athletes and their coaches is a big part of what she does, as she works with both athletes and coaches to make sure athletes are eligible.
Working without a set schedule is very challenging, but Mason tries her best to make it work. She is often juggling a number of different situations at once, so it is important to be flexible. Mason has fully embraced her fluid schedule. In fact, she says she is mostly intrigued not knowing who’s going to walk to her door at any given time.
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