Advisor Spotlight: Erica Byrnes

by Kari Ward

After four years, Erica Byrnes is stepping down from her role as chair of the Undergraduate Advising Council (UAC). Erica, who is the Associate Director for Advising in the School of Business, has worked tirelessly on behalf of UF’s advising and student communities. She has altogether revitalized the UAC, transforming the group into a dynamic, productive forum. As UAC Chair, Erica has insured advisors’ voices are heard by garnering a seat for us on the Council of Academic Deans. In creating the UAC sub-committees, she has provided UF advisors with numerous professional development opportunities, greatly increased our presence on our campus, and helped foster our sense of community. Though far from over, her contributions and leadership have left an indelible mark on the UF community.

You took on the role of chairing the UAC very soon after your promotion to Associate Director of Advising for the School of Business. Why did you make that decision?

The idea of bringing together advisors from across the campus to discuss common issues and solutions is incredibly powerful to me – I really believe in the idea of collaborative problem solving. Jeanna Mastrodicasa was the Chair of the UAC when I first started attending regularly. Around that time, Jeanna was searching for a vice-chair (she had just been elected Chair after Brian Ray was deployed to Iraq). I volunteered (she promised me she wasn’t going to Iraq anytime soon), she was promoted months later, and the rest is history! I jumped at the opportunity to chair an organization whose mission I really believe in. Collaborating across campus makes the advising community a stronger united front than we would be if we existed as silos in our independent colleges and disciplines.

What do you feel are your greatest accomplishments as chair of the UAC?

After I became the Chair of the UAC, I immediately began meeting with the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education to promote the UAC and ensure that our relationship with the central administration was strong. Through our conversations, I learned that many key administrators at UF believed the UAC had been disbanded. I lobbied to maintain the UAC as a Presidential Committee and was successful. This accomplishment means the most to me, because it means that advisors on campus will continue to have a forum and a space to come together to identify best practices and discuss policies relevant to student success on campus.

From your standpoint, what do you believe are the greatest challenges the UF advising community faces?

Academic advising is such a young profession. One of the greatest challenges I see for advisors, in general, is a lack of cohesion as a group of professionals which leads to less visibility by other academic affairs professionals. The UF advising community faces a distinct challenge in this arena because our advising model is so decentralized. Advisors on campus have varying levels of jurisdiction to apply and interpret policies, and even to make policy recommendations to their deans, directors, and supervisors. Those discrepancies have the potential to block professional progress for advisors on campus if we do not come together to discuss and lobby for our ideas about best practices. I would love to see the regular membership of the UAC grow to a more representative sample (there are approximately 300 people on the UFADVISORS listserv and about 40 regular attendees at the UAC).

What do you like most about your job?

I most enjoy the diversity that my job offers. My time is split among many professional activities that I love: advising students, working with student organizations, supervising an outstanding team of academic advisors, teaching Warrington Welcome: First Year Florida, engaging in administrative projects, making policy recommendations, and probably tons of other things that I am not thinking of right now! The diversity doesn’t stop at the content of my days though; every day I look forward to working with many different types of people who represent every possible world view. I feel like I learn something new every day, which keeps things interesting and makes my job intrinsically rewarding.

What’s the funniest question a student has asked you?

I have a lot of favorites that stretch across different themes. One humorous thing a student emailed me with recently was: “How do I know what level a course is? I need a 3000-4000 level. Is SDS 3340 at that level? Thank you!” Questions like this bring a smile to my face, but they also help me embrace the concept of advising as teaching – on many levels we really are teaching our students how to navigate the university system.

What is your favorite TV show (or movie, music, etc.)?

I’m a huge nerd fan of Iron Chef America. In fact, it’s the only TV show I watch regularly! I’ve been thinking that we should do an “Iron Academic Advisor” event in the future . . .

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

I enjoy cooking, eating, and drinking wine. Usually in that order! I also enjoy traveling and most outdoor activities (especially if they involve the aforementioned foodie interests). When the weather is nice you might catch me riding my bright yellow handcycle around the east side of town.

Husband/wife/partner? Kids? Dogs? Cats? Others?

No/yes/ditto. No kids. Two dogs, one cat, and a few squirrels outside my office window!

What might many of us in UF’s advising community be surprised to learn about you?

I have a serious office supply fetish!