Congratulations to Dr. Wendy Klooster on receiving the 2024-2025 College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) Distinguished Undergrad Mentor/Advisor Award! Dr. Klooster is an Associate Professor of Professional Practice here in the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science (HCS).
Luckily, she had a moment to share her thoughts on this achievement as well as a bit about her approach to advising students...
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON RECEIVING THIS AWARD?
Of course, I’m very honored to have been nominated and then selected. I had actually forgotten about the nomination, so receiving the award announcement was a pleasant surprise. I think it’s great that the department and college recognizes and appreciates the value of advising and working with students in this capacity.
What do you enjoy most about advising?
I really like working with students individually to help them make the most of their time here—this means taking the most relevant courses to their interests, trouble-shooting scheduling and transfer-credit issues, and helping them graduate successfully and on a good timeline for them. This looks different for every student and at times it can feel like solving a puzzle, but I enjoy puzzles and I enjoy connecting with students throughout this process.
What's your approach to advising/mentoring?
From a logistics side, I try to review their advising sheet and degree audit before meeting with each student, so I know what they’ve taken and what requirement they have yet to complete. I also like to hear about their career interests and future plans so I can guide them to relevant electives. And I like talking with them about various GE courses they’ve taken to know if I should or shouldn’t recommend them to other students. Organization is one of my strengths, so that helps me find and reference past notes and have additional resources on hand to share with them as needed. I also have a broad familiarity with various aspects of horticulture, agroecology, and sustainable agriculture so I can usually point them in the right direction/connect them with experienced individuals, even if I don’t have the exact answer they're looking for.
What's the biggest challenge when it comes to advising students?
Sometimes students wait until the last minute to reach out to me about scheduling concerns or to make sure they’re on track, and that doesn’t always leave me much time to work with them to resolve any issues. Most of the time we can figure something out, but I definitely encourage students to reach out to their advisor early on and maintain a regular connection to avoid major last-minute stress.
Closing thoughts?
A successful advising meeting (student is on track and putting together a schedule that works for them), especially as a student is approaching graduation, is extremely rewarding for me. My efforts to positively contribute to the future success of the students is one of the biggest things keeping me going right now.
Eager for more news about the CFAES Awards and 2024-2025 recipients? You're in luck...