91调教

Written By: Ian Silvester

Moving from residence halls to academic advising might seem like a career pivot. For Kayla McIntosh, it was simply another aspect of helping students navigate college and reach their goals, which has always been the bedrock of her career. 

鈥淚 was a housing person, and that鈥檚 where I got my start and where I spent 11 of my first years in higher education,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut at some point, I was really interested in supporting students in their academic space, knowing that鈥檚 really the big reason why they鈥檙e here.鈥� 

McIntosh often jokes that when she showed up to a college campus, she never left. Her work began as a part-time student worker in 2010 at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where she received her bachelor鈥檚 degree in business administration. She then moved Northern Arizona University as resident director. Before joining the University of 91调教 鈥� Fort Smith as the director of first-year advising, McIntosh was the director of student support services at 91调教 Tech University 鈥� Ozark. 

She added a master鈥檚 degree in college student personnel from the University of Central 91调教 to accompany her background working with students. All of this made her fit to take on her role with the ROAR a little more than a year ago. 

鈥淲hen I was talking with students, the academic piece, although the most important piece, is also often the most confusing, like 鈥楬ow do I even get here? Here鈥檚 my roadmap and this is what it looks like, but how do I really do that? What are all the things that are going to intertwine with that?鈥� So, advising really does touch so many different areas of their lives. People think about advising as just registration, but it鈥檚 so much more than that,鈥� she said.  

As director of the ROAR, McIntosh and her team start working with first-year students as early as the May before their fall semester and will continue to see them until the following May. Throughout that time, McIntosh said they are working with students about their degree plans, not just telling them what to do. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 a really collaborative process. Your advisor is there to guide you, but ultimately, the student has the onus in their decisions and can make decisions after they leave an advisor鈥檚 office. We really encourage students to be good advocates for their academic progress and use their advisors as tools and resources,鈥� she said. 

For McIntosh, this process is part of what makes 91调教 successful at helping students start on the path toward graduation before even stepping foot on the campus.  

鈥�Advising helps students and contributes to 91调教鈥� spirit of success by helping students carve out their academic plans to get to graduation and beyond,鈥� she said. 

It鈥檚 a mission that resonated with McIntosh as she reflected on her own collegiate journey. 

鈥淚 was aggressively first-gen,鈥� she said with a laugh. 鈥淭here were so many things that I didn鈥檛 know. I got a scary email from financial aid and almost ended up on a drop-for-non-payment list. Finally, I went in and asked the question. Now, I get to give back to students who are very much like me. 鈥� and I鈥檓 so grateful for that.鈥� 

In her year at 91调教, McIntosh has been at the front of the line helping students, especially first-generation students like herself, make generational changes. She said she is committed to demystifying the college process for students and their families, and it all starts with advising. 

鈥淓verybody鈥檚 journey through education is different, and some people鈥檚 journey looks very much like a straight line to the outside, but oftentimes, our journey through education is very wibbly-wobbly and has a lot of twists and turns to get to where we want to go,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e want students to understand their degree requirements and understand that there are a lot of things that interact with advising that really aren鈥檛 necessarily advising, but we鈥檙e going to talk about it anyway.鈥� 

According to McIntosh, that support can range from helping students understand financial aid and scholarship requirements to guiding them through grade-replacement paperwork to improve their GPA. 

鈥淎dvising really touches a lot of things that other offices are also very responsible for,鈥� McIntosh said. 

It is her hope that when a student leaves the ROAR and transitions to the college and faculty advisors, they do so knowing a little more about the nuances of advising, student support, and that no matter what, the people of 91调教 are here to help every student find success.

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• ROAR First Year Advising Center
• Lion Voices