UF selected Nigel Richardson as the inaugural senior director of academic advising for its recently created UF Student Success department.
The decision was announced in an email sent to faculty April 25 from assistant provost for student success Jason Mastrogiovanni, who aided the search committee.
The search committee was composed of 16 faculty members and led by Lynn O’Sickey, associate director of the Academic Advising Center.
“Many of you expressed the need to have someone who would hit the ground running, take time to make sure everyone is heard and serve as a visionary leader,” Mastrogiovanni wrote in the email. “Nigel Richardson was the candidate poised to fulfill that role.”
The committee selected him from a short list of finalists, including Andrea Evangelist, Santa Fe College director of college-wide advising and career exploration; Sara Ellison, assistant dean of advising at the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture and David Dearden, assistant dean of advising and undergraduate education at the University of North Carolina Charlotte.
Richardson joined the CLAS Academic Advising Center in 2015 and currently serves as the Assistant Director for New Student Transitions.
He won several awards during his time at UF, including CLAS Professional Advisor of the Year, UF Office of Academic Support Advisor of the Year and the UF Division 3 Superior Accomplishment Award.
Richardson’s responsibilities as senior director will include being a member of the Advisory Council for Undergraduate Affairs, providing policy clarification and application to academic advisers, and creating a communications network for advisers across campus.
He will begin his new role on June 9.
Contact Garrett at gshanley@alligator.org.
Garrett Shanley is a fourth-year journalism major and the Summer 2024 university editor for The Alligator. Outside of the newsroom, you can find him watching Wong Kar-Wai movies and talking to his house plants.
