Laura Scott graduated from Baylor in 1964 but never left. Shortly after graduating with her degree in journalism and French, she decided to apply for a job as a Baylor recruiter and admissions counselor, and she eventually became an academic adviser.
Scott has been advising students for over 15 years, and in February was recognized for all her hard work by the Texas Academic Advising Network (TEXAAN) with a lifetime achievement award.
According to their website ,TEXAAN “serves as a professional representation of academic advising excellence in Texas by providing professional development, networking, recognition and dissemination of information.”
TEXAAN holds a conference every year and this year, Scott was honored at their 23rd conference in Austin. TEXAAN gives awards every year, but the lifetime achievement award is not annual and is only given out every few years.
“It was a wonderful surprise to receive such an a award,” Scott said. “I am so honored and thankful to all my students and colleagues.”
Scott is extremely involved in the advising community at Baylor. In addition to advising a full load of students, she is the manager of professional development in University Advisement, and she is the chair of the planning committee for Day of the Advisor, which is April 20th.
Scott advises undecided majors and pre-major students. Scott said working at the university has been a dream come true ,and she could not do what she does if it were not for the amazing staff and students surrounding her.
“I love advising because I love Baylor, and I love the students,” Scott said. “I love learning, and to be a good adviser, you have to be open to constantly learning new things.”
When she was considering applying for the advising position, Scott was apprehensive because she feared advising students all day every day would get boring.
“I was so wrong thinking I would get bored as an adviser,” Scott said. “It’s been 15 years, and I am anything but bored. Each student is completely different from the next, and they are all so wonderful.”
Yazoo City, Miss., freshman Ariel White is a pre-business student Scott advised this year.
“I wanted to do a bunch of different things when I came to Baylor, and Laura helped me find what’s right for me and what concentrations inside the business school go best with what I want to do,” White said. “I can’t think of anyone who deserves this award more than her.”
Her favorite thing about being an advisor is getting to know the students and being able to help them make important decisions about their life, Scott said
“She really cares about how I’m doing in and outside of my classes. She doesn’t just ask questions out of routine, she asks because she really cares about the answers,” White said.
Though White has only known Scott for a year, she said she already feels connected to her.
“Laura is so nice, and it’s obvious that she loves life. You can tell she really cares about us and she loves Baylor. She treats all her students like family,” White said. “After my first meeting with Laura I was excited to see that she was my advisor for second semester too because I know she is great at her job and will help me pick the right classes.”
