IUPUI Administrator Named Outstanding Advocate for First-Year Students

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An Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis administrator is one of 10 recipients of a national award for work with first-year students.

The National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience & Students in Transition named Gayle Williams, assistant dean of University College at IUPUI, as a winner of its Outstanding First-Year Student Advocate Award. The center presented the award with the support and co-sponsorship of Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.

The award, now in its 16th year, honors college faculty, administrators, staff and students for their work on behalf of first-year students and for the impact of their work on students and the cultures of their institutions.

“Gayle Williams has been at the center of efforts to make first-year programs at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) serve students, and with her leadership, these programs have earned national recognition for six straight years,” the online award announcement said. “She is an articulate and effective advocate for first-year students and fights through barriers to help students persist and find academic success . . . The success of the first-year experience at the University is due in large part to her many efforts, endless dedication, and positive impact on first-year students.”

Each year, college presidents are invited to nominate one educator from their campus for the award. A panel of distinguished educators reviews the nomination portfolios and elects 10 recipients.

The National Resource Center for The First Year Experience & Students in Transition formally recognized Williams and the other recipients, chosen from 84 nominees, at the Annual Conference on The First-Year Experience held Feb. 8, 2009, in Orlando, Florida.

Williams was one of two Indiana award winners. Jennifer Griggs, director of the Learning Resource Center at Butler University, also received an award.

For additional information about the award, the award recipients, or the National Resource Center for The First Year Experience & Students in Transition, located at the University of South Carolina, please contact Nina Glisson, Conference Coordinator at the National Resource Center, (803) 777-8158, ninal@mailbox.sc.edu.