Illinois Physics Academic Adviser Merissa Jones was selected for the Engineering Council Outstanding Advising Award. This award is conferred annually to the top 10 percent of advisers in the College of Engineering; recipients are nominated and selected by engineering undergraduate students.
Merissa Jones receives Engineering Council Outstanding Advising Award
Illinois Physics Academic Adviser Merissa Jones was selected for the Engineering Council Outstanding Advising Award. This award is conferred annually to the top 10 percent of advisers in the College of Engineering; recipients are nominated and selected by engineering undergraduate students.
Over the last six years in this role, Jones has worked to make sure all undergraduate physics students are on track not only to graduate, but to meet their career goals. She advises more than 650 physics majors in two colleges and believes it’s important to help every student to examine his or her unique aspirations, strengths, and areas needing improvement—her approach is not one-size-fits-all.
“As a mother myself, I know it’s important for them to receive encouragement and reassurance. I’m always happy when they stop in to see me.”
“Students’ intended career paths evolve over the four years they are here,” Jones points out, “through their interactions with faculty, friends, and through their experiences. It’s important to gear their individual programs toward those evolving goals, whether that’s a professional career or an advanced degree. In advising our first- and second-year physics students, it’s important to get a sense of what a student’s skills are, how they are performing in their classes, and generally how they are coping with the stresses of university life and a rigorous major. Some students seem to breeze through, but many of our students require additional resources and support, whether academic or emotional. I’m there as an advocate—my role is to let them voice how they are doing and point them to resources that can benefit them.”
Jones meets with each freshman and sophomore physics major at least once each fall and spring semester to review progress toward degree and planned courses; she always encourages students to come back to see her if they have any concerns or questions. In this way, Jones not only provides timely information about college policies, registration, course enrollment, academic status, and degree requirements, she also connects students to important resources within the University’s network of enrichment opportunities for high-achieving students and for international students.
“I really feel for our international students who are so far away from their families,” comments Jones. “As a mother myself, I know it’s important for them to receive encouragement and reassurance. I’m always happy when they stop in to see me.”
Jones also connects at-risk students with academic-support and campus counseling resources, supporting and guiding the necessary return to good academic standing with some motherly “tough love.” She does her best always to make time for students who may need her attention.
“Mandatory advising takes about seven to eight weeks each semester to get through all of the students,” she says. “Even then, I see walk-ins. I never turn students away—they may have an emergency or even just have something that’s stressing them out, and getting the answer to a question could ease their minds.”
Jones also meets with prospective and admitted students and their families, organizes the PHYS 110 Physics Orientation course and the PHYS 199 Physics Careers and Research course, and coordinates a peer- and faculty-mentor program. And she works closely with Engineering Career Services to provide students with professional development opportunities at each stage of their four years at the university.
“Working with Career Services, we are able to help students figure out what is best for them individually—even if that doesn’t keep them in physics. Career Services also helps students learn how to prepare resumes and applications. For those going on to jobs in industry, we always tell our physics graduates going out and interviewing for jobs to lead with what skills they have. Not everyone knows the amazing skillset that a physics graduate brings.”
“What I find most rewarding is watching the students become successful, especially their reaching the completion of their degrees. When you have seen their hard times, their rises and falls, and then you get to watch them find their way through and meet their own goals—I’m just very happy to see them thrive.”
Jones received her bachelor’s degree in sociology in 2008 and her master’s degree in educational policy with a concentration in diversity and equity issues in education in 2011, both from the University of Illinois. She has worked at the university for a total of 18 years, 10 of those as an academic adviser. She is a member of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Academic Advising Committee.
Jones was presented with the award at the annual College of Engineering Faculty Awards Ceremony in April. The Engineering Council is a collective of student organizations and societies within the College of Engineering that provides leadership training and opportunities, hosts career and science fairs, and encourages collaboration among its constituents.