Presenter: Moderators: Community of Practice Co-Chairs

This panel presentation at the Academic Advising Summit will bring together a diverse group of panelists—from new professionals to seasoned practitioners—who will share their experiences navigating today’s complex advising environment. Drawing on their insights, the session will explore how academic advisors are supporting students within the broader context of a changing post-secondary landscape, while balancing institutional goals, emerging student needs, and their own professional development.

Panelists will share practical strategies for supporting students through academic, personal, and career challenges, while fostering inclusive advising practices that reflect the diverse backgrounds and aspirations of the student body. Discussions will also cover building collaborative advising teams, addressing mental health concerns, supporting career readiness, and staying adaptable in an ever-changing academic environment. Additionally, panelists will reflect on how advising is expanding beyond traditional campus boundaries to include virtual platforms, experiential learning, and global engagement. This session will offer attendees actionable strategies and insights to inspire a forward-thinking, inclusive, and adaptable approach to academic advising.

Presenter: Hannah Bild-Enkin

Program Abstract:

Many Higher Education Institutions offer extensive services to promote student success. However, these services often require that students actively reach out to receive help, and there can be many barriers to these help-seeking behaviours. Early intervention through programming and academic advising can make help-seeking more accessible to a wider population of students. This session will introduce Karabenick and Dembo’s (2011) eight-step help-seeking model and use it as a framework to explore potential barriers to help-seeking and solutions for promoting help-seeking in our work with students.

This session is a Knowledge Exchange.

Presenter Bio:

Hannah Bild-Enkin is the First Year Advisor, Student Success & Transition in the First Year Office at the University of Toronto. In her work, she offers academic advising and oversees programs to support the success and transition of first-year engineering students. She has her Master of Education in Higher Education (Student Development & Student Services in Higher Education Field) from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education/U of T and has been working at U of T for over 10 years. She is passionate about helping students navigate their undergraduate experiences and find resources and opportunities that will support their success.

Presenter: Beth Blackett

Program Abstract:

Our wellness coaching appointments use a Brief Action Planning (BAP) model which is based on key concepts used in Motivational Interviewing (i.e., acceptance, partnership, compassion, and evocation). This is person-centered approach used by many in primary health care, rehabilitation therapy, mental health and public health professions. BAP ensures our professional and peer wellness coaches meet clients where they are at and allow students to set their own health behaviour goals that takes their diverse backgrounds, cultures, and experiences into consideration. Join us to hear about how the model has helped our work and explore how it could be a useful model within academic advising. We have also worked with campus partners to ensure health equity, diversity and inclusion are a continual point of focus for our program implementation and volunteer recruitment.

This session is a Showcase.

Presenter Bio: 

Beth Blackett has worked in post-secondary for nearly two decades and is passionate about taking an upstream approach when supporting student well-being.  After completing her Master's degree in Health Promotion, she went on to become a certified wellness coach and uses a brief action planning strengths-based approach to meet students where they are at when making a health behaviour change.  She loves working 1-on-1 with students and also mentoring student staff and volunteers in the field of Health Promotion.  She is currently a LivingWorks trainer who delivers several mental health trainings to help create a community of care.  She is particularly interested in how the physical environment and policies enhance overall well-being and the intersectionality between all domains of wellness.

Presenter: Gavin Farber

Program Abstract:

Mid-level practitioners face challenges that affect them both personally and professionally.  Some advisors seek advancement to the top, while others enjoy their role as “helping professionals”. When promotions are unavailable to this group, it can be tough to find appreciation in their jobs. In reality, when a vertical path is unavailable at an institution, it could be horizontal movements that afford the best opportunities for aiding in professional development. Join the conversation to learn how you can forge a rich, rewarding career independent of the conventional “climbing the ladder” approach. Engage in career success planning and overload your struggles! 

This session is a Knowledge Exchange.

Presenter Bio:

Gavin Farber has worked in higher education for over 15 years. His expertise includes academic advising, advisor training & development, orientation programming, transfer student services, and study abroad counseling. He also previously worked as a student affairs generalist having worked in several offices focusing on parent & family services, student activities and
student enrichment.

Gavin Farber is currently the Coordinator for Undergraduate Advising in the School of Business at The College of New Jersey in Ewing, New Jersey. In this position, he leads advising services for 1,500 students and helps provide direction for over 35 faculty advisors. He develops all advising-related training for faculty and staff. His advising caseload allows him to work with Undeclared-Business and former non-matriculated student populations. Gavin serves as the advisor to the Community Engagement Officers (CEO) Peer Mentors, a team of over 50 upperclassmen business students who serve as instructors for the first-year seminar course.

He previously served as an Academic Advisor at Temple University’s Fox School of Business for 12 years. Gavin specialized in advising first and second-year students, taught seminar courses first-year, transfer and undeclared/exploratory students. He was an active member of the Temple University Academic Advising Group (AAG) and served as a Co-Chairperson from
2013-2016 and led their mentoring program from 2016-2019.

Gavin is an active member of NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising where he has previously served as a regional mentoring and membership coordinator, advising community chair, and division representative. He currently serves on the NACADA Board of Directors.

Gavin is also a member of the UK Advising and Tutoring (UKAT) and the Canadian Association of College & University Student Services (CACUSS). Gavin earned his B.A. in Journalism and M.A. in Higher Education from Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey, USA. He also holds a M.S. in Human Resources Management from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

Presenter: Mitchell Higgins, Amy Beamer, Elizabeth Clarke, Jenny Badee

Program Abstract:

Our vision is to provide an in-depth overview of how Wilfrid Laurier University's Peer Academic Coaching program works collaboratively across campuses and departments to bridge the gap between student and academic affairs.

This session is a Showcase.

Presenter Bios:

Mitchell Higgins: As a proud two-time Laurier graduate, my passion for student affairs began during my time as an undergraduate student at Laurier’s Brantford campus. I graduated with an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Criminology, and began my professional career at Laurier a short time later. Since then, I successfully earned my Master of Education (MEd) with a focus on Student Affairs. I have been working with students in higher education since 2018 within my first role as the Coordinator, Off-Campus First Year Initiatives which coordinated the Laurier Off-Campus University Students (LOCUS) program across the Brantford and Waterloo campus. As a lifelong learner and a passionate member of the Laurier community, I feel fortunate to be able to support students on their postsecondary journey as my full-time job.

Amy Beamer: I have a BA in Psychology from McMaster University and my Human Resources Management Diploma from Sheridan College. I have worked in HR about 20 years and am a Certified Human Resources Leader (CHRL). I began teaching postsecondary HR courses at Conestoga College in 2014 until present. I have taught EM300 for Laurier, and HR for Non-Profit Leaders in the Laurier Social Work Professional Development Program.  I will be teaching GS391 in the Winter 2025.  In 2018 I began working as a co-op coordinator at Laurier. I completed my Master of Education, Student Affairs in 2020 and am passionate about educating students to get the most out of their post-secondary experience. I enjoy interactive and engaging sessions with students online and in-person.

Elizabeth Clarke: I graduated from Laurier’s Brantford campus with an Honours bachelor’s degree in social work and completed my Master of Social Work at the University of Toronto. Before joining Laurier, I gained experience in various sectors, which sparked my passion for working with individuals, groups, and communities to promote social justice. As a social worker, I’ve had the privilege of meeting many individuals from diverse walks of life, which has taught me invaluable lessons along my journey. I believe we are all lifelong learners, interconnected as we work to discover and fulfill our purpose.

Jenny Badee: I happily joined Wilfrid Laurier University in March 2024 as the program coordinator for Co-Curricular Learning Support on the Brantford campus. In September 2024, I moved to the Waterloo campus as the program coordinator for Mathematics and Statistics Learning Support. Previously I have worked as a math instructor at Seneca College in Toronto, a facilitator of professional development workshops for high school math teachers in Michigan, and a math teacher at a middle school in California. I have a PhD in Educational Studies from the University of Michigan (2010) and a BSc in Applied Mathematics, with a specialization in computing, from the University of California, Los Angeles (2004).