Advisers Recognized for Excellence

Two academic advisers from the College of Sciences were recently honored with the 2014 Excellence in Professional Advising Award. Rebecca Morales from the Nicholson School of Communication (NSC) and Karen Cox from the Psychology Department.

Karen Cox

Cox said that the UCF Psychology Peer Advising Program, was the university’s top choice to represent UCF for the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) Outstanding Advising Program Award.

“I was honored, grateful and thrilled! It was very rewarding to share the news with my office, everyone was excited,” Cox said.

She has been focused on academic advising for 15 years and said that it can be very demanding at times, but the students always make it worthwhile.

“The philosophy that I try to impart to my peer advisers is a holistic approach to academic advising,” Cox said. “We truly care about our student’s progress, and get excited about helping them reach their goals.”

Cox said that by creating a culture of caring and helping one another, they can reach more students.

“We would have never won this award without the dedicated peer advisers who are here in the office, and in the classrooms with our students, helping out their fellow classmates on a daily basis,” she said.

Navigating a university as large as UCF can be difficult for students, Cox said that being an academic adviser is a privilege.

Rebecca Morales

“I take my role very seriously, and try to make the Psychology Advising Center feel like home base for our students, providing a safe place to ask questions and get help with the challenges that undergraduates face,” she said.

As the university’s 2014 Excellence in Professional Advising Award winner, Rebecca Morales was the university’s nominee for the 2015 National Academic Advising Association Region 4: Excellence in Advising – Primary Role award.

Morales started as an adviser for UCF in 2007 by working with the regional advising team as the first DirectConnect to UCF adviser. In spring of 2009, she joined the UCF NSC and was asked to create an advising center for over 2,000 undergraduate students.

Nearly six years later, March 2015, the Nicholson Academic Student Services Center (NASSC) is a true advising center serving approximately 2,500 undergraduate and graduate students.

“I am blessed to have such a great administrative team who allows me to constantly improve advising services for our students,” Morales said in a statement. “Within the UCF Nicholson School of Communication, I am proud to say, that students are definitely first.”

Morales feels that having exceptional advisers truly helps students accomplish their goals.

“Academic advising and student success are my passion, and I believe that everyone should not only have access to higher education, but be able to take advantage of exceptional support and advising along the way to help them achieve their academic and career goals,” she said.

The College of Sciences would like to congratulate Morales and Cox on their achievement and recognition.