In our last piece on the collaborative environment at UF's college of education, we introduce another important figure in Doğan’s success, his advisor Alyson Adams.
Adams, a graduate from UF’s college of education herself with a bachelor's in business administration (finance), a master’s in elementary education and a doctorate in curriculum and instruction, is an advisor to four current Ph.D. students as well as ten E.D.D. students. She helped Doğan get settled and comfortable during his first few weeks in the United States and at UF, and one of the first things she does is connect new students to fellow peers.
"I think when you have international students, it’s really important to connect them to other international students who know the bus schedule, who know the good apartments to stay in, know the good grocery stores," Adams said “I always do that right away, even if they’re international or not.”
So what exactly is the role of an academic advisor in higher education? Adams says it is much more than just helping students choose which courses to take during their years at COE. She stresses that being an advisor is much more than just guiding a student on what courses to take when. Even though everyone advises differently, you are more of a “academic life guide” for these students during their years in graduate school.
“Part of what you do as a doctoral advisor is help socialize them into higher education,” Adams said “What your life is like and what kind of decisions you have to make and the kind of opportunities you have to pursue and how to go to conferences and present.”
“What things to say no to, what things to say yes to and assistantships and how to manage all of that,” Adams said “It’s more than just coursework, it’s helping them be a future faculty member.”
Faculty understand that everyone has their own needs and ways of learning, and there are plenty of faculty members who are willing to advise and guide students in the right direction. Adams adds that Doğan would often come to her with a project idea, but if she wasn’t able to work with him, she would try to pair him with a faculty member that was available to help out. This is the sort of collaborative environment that the faculty here at the college of education strive to achieve, where no student’s question is left unanswered.
Faculty are always willing to help their students become successful, and this is true in any college, not just the college of education, but students have to be willing to reach out and take advantage of the collaborative nature of UF, because as Doğan says “you need to ask, you need to search for something because experience is everything.”
