Region 2 2017 Outstanding Advising Awardees

Apologies to our award winners... your forgetful Communications Chair thought this post came out in March and realized it was never published. So a very belated congrats to all! 

Region 2 2017 Outstanding Advising Awardees

Congratulations to the 2017 Region 2 award and certificate of merit recipients! These outstanding individuals will be formally honored during the closing brunch of the region conference on March 31, 2017, but here is a preview!

Outstanding Advising, Advising Administrator – Dawn Coder. Dawn is the Director for Academic Advising & Student Disability Services (AA&SDS) for the Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), World Campus. She has nine years’ experience in the field of continuing higher education and online learning in both public and private institutions, five years’ experience in Human Resources for a private non-profit company and twelve years’ experience in a leadership role. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Penn State and a master’s degree from Penn State in Adult Education.

Outstanding Advising, Advising Primary Role – Zachary Martin. Zach grew up in rural Southern Indiana understanding life through the lens of nature, building numerous forts among pine trees and riding 4-wheelers through corn fields. Now living in Philadelphia, he enjoys his job as an advisor in the Honors Program at Temple University. Working with motivated students from across the university, he finds inspiration in their conversations and enjoys pushing them to think about how their college experience can give their life meaning. Outside of work, he spends his time painting and hanging out with his son, Orion.

Outstanding Advising, New Advisor – Stacy Parks. Stacey Parks has enjoyed serving in an Academic Advisor role for 3 years for the College of Arts & Letters at Old Dominion University.  Previously she was responsible for intake advising for the Women’s Studies Department. She currently advises in a split position for the students in the majors of Interdisciplinary Studies-Teacher Preparation and International Studies. As an advisor of Pi Beta Phi Sorority, she works closely with students on academic probation building success plans.  Stacey also serves on the Old Dominion Advising Network Executive Board as the record keeper.  Outside of advising proper, she volunteers as an Instructor and Events Coordinator for Green Dot ODU. She helps train and plan events to engage and inform students on how they can be active bystanders in preventing sexual violence on campus and in their community.  Stacey is a loyal double-alumna of Old Dominion University graduating with honors with her Master of Science in Education-Higher Education/Student Affairs in 2014 and with her Bachelor of Science in Sociology in 2009.

Scholarship Recipients

Ambassador Scholarship – Carrie Egnosak: Carrie Egnosak has served as a Division of Undergraduate Studies Advisor in the Academic and Career Planning Center and as a First-year Seminar Instructor for exploratory students at Penn State Behrend since 2008. Previously, Carrie served as the Career Services Coordinator and an Academic Advisor at Penn State Shenango. She has presented regionally on academic advising topics related to goal setting, spirituality, assessment and the benefits of combined work with career development. Currently, she is excited to serve as the Volunteers & Evaluations Co-chair for the Region 2 Conference. Carrie earned her Master of Arts in Student Affairs in Higher Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Penn State Behrend.

Ambassador Scholarship – Heather Ortwein: Heather Ortwein earned an A.A. in Individualized Transfer Studies from Northampton Community College. She majored in psychology at Kutztown University and earned an M.S. in psychology from Chestnut Hill College. She now works as an academic advisor at Lehigh Carbon Community College. In the future she would like continue to professionally advise and teach psychology as an adjunct instructor.

Certificate of Merit Recipients

Advising, Primary Role – Dawn Knight: Dawn Knight is the Pre-Education Advising Coordinator in the School of Education at Virginia Tech.

New Advisor – Brianna Crowder: Brianna Crowder is an Undergraduate Advisor for the Virginia Tech Department of History. She is a recipient of a Virginia Tech 2016 Undergraduate Academic Advising Travel Grant. She received her Bachelor’s degree from Radford University in English Language and Literature. She was a year-long exchange-student at Middlesex University in London, England, where she studied British Literature and Media Writing. She also participated in study abroad programs to Ireland, Italy, France, and Malaysia. Brianna loves working with the undergraduate students and her favorite part of her job is watching her students graduate.


Student Conference Grant Recipients

Aimee Chapdelaine, University of Virginia

Ellen Freeman, Penn State University

Rebecca Leonard, Penn State Behrend

Sherri Ward, Regent University