John “Chip” Celenza, College of Arts & Sciences associate professor of biology, has been advising BU students for the better part of 30 years. Molly-Kate MacLeod, director of student academic experience in the Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences, has been advising students since 2016. Both received this year’s Undergraduate Academic Advising Awards.

Awards

For Academic Advisor Award Winners, Students Are at the Heart of It All

CAS’ John “Chip” Celenza and CDS’ Molly-Kate MacLeod receive annual advising honors

For many students, academic advisors offer a helpful touchpoint during their college careers—someone they check in with periodically to make sure they’re on track to graduate (while likely also juggling a host of activities and extracurriculars). 

But for some students, the advisors at Boston University serve as something more like a safety net: they help students bounce back when things go sideways. Maybe they connect a student to critical resources, or offer a lens through which a student can see a new path forward. Advisors can be the difference between a successful career (college and beyond) and an unfinished one. 

John “Chip” Celenza and Molly-Kate MacLeod know these stakes well. Both academic advisors, they are this year’s winners of BU’s Undergraduate Academic Advising Awards, the University’s annual honor recognizing advisors who have engaged students in the collaborative process of creating a rich undergraduate education and have had a significant impact on students’ academic careers. 

“It’s incredibly flattering,” says Celenza, associate professor of biology in BU’s College of Arts & Sciences, who has been advising BU students for the better part of 30 years. “This is our job—helping undergraduates and graduate students get the most out of what they can at BU. It’s nice to be recognized for it.” 

MacLeod, director of student academic experience in the Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences, echoes his sentiment. 

“To be recognized for something that you just do because it’s your job is so special. You don’t realize you’re doing such a great job until you hear what your students have to say about you and your colleagues; you’re just doing it, day in and day out. So I think being recognized for the time and energy it takes to allow students to have a successful academic experience is really special,” she says.

BU staff, faculty, and alumni can nominate one candidate per category: awards are given to a professional academic advisor and a faculty academic advisor. Winners receive a $1,500 prize and are honored at the annual Advisor End-of-Year Celebration, which was held at the end of April this year. 

Celenza and MacLeod’s selection for this award “reflects your outstanding contributions to academic advising and your exceptional work engaging and supporting our students,” Amie Grills, associate provost for undergraduate affairs, wrote in letters to each of them notifying them of their selection. “I know how incredibly rewarding, and challenging, this work can be and your continued commitment to your students is truly noteworthy. On behalf of Boston University, thank you and congratulations.”

MacLeod, who has been advising students at BU since 2016, says she works diligently to view each of her students as individuals, with different strengths and interests. 

“Everyone is good at something, so I see my job as helping them find what they’re going to be most successful at,” she says. “The biggest thing is realizing that if a student is majoring in data sciences, for example, but not doing well in the program, it doesn’t mean they’re a bad student—maybe there’s just a different program that they would thrive in. My job is to ask questions to get them to come to their own conclusions about what we can do to enhance their experience here.” 

Both MacLeod and Celenza say that it’s often these cases—in which a student was struggling but finds a new way forward—that stick with them, and can be the most rewarding. 

Celenza recalls advising a biology student who was floundering in the program. He was put on academic probation, and eventually paused for a semester to regroup. During that break, Celenza stayed in touch with the student, connecting him to other CAS advising resources. The student reenrolled, this time following his interests. He took more math and statistics courses, eventually majoring in those disciplines. 

“That student now has a PhD in biostatistics and public health,” Celenza says. “He’s working in biology, but not from the angle he originally thought, which was premed. Now, the whole time we were working together, I never told him what to do; we just talked. Once he started describing things he really enjoyed doing, I said, ‘Well, maybe that’s the area you should pursue.’ And so he was able to come back to BU and get that degree.” 

Celenza and MacLeod easily recall many such success stories, instances when a gentle nudge or even just a listening ear made all the difference for a student. Academic advising can be a challenging job, but it’s a deeply rewarding one, too, they say. 

“The students are so inspiring,” MacLeod says. “They’re so smart and thoughtful, and that’s what motivates me to go to work with them and help them achieve their goals each day. You get to go on this journey with them, starting when they’re brand new freshmen and, in some ways, still almost high schoolers. And then you watch them excel in their academics, start looking for internships and do practicum courses and experience all these cool things so that they’re prepared for the corporate, real world. You see all these life changes happening and then they go off, independent, into the world. That’s the most rewarding piece.”