Nursing Advisor to Receive State Excellence Award

It has been an award-winning year for USF College of Nursing Academic Advisor Greg Wance.

In May, he will be honored for his outstanding and innovative work with pre-nursing students when he is recognized as one of the top higher education advising professionals throughout the state of Florida.

Wance is set to receive the Excellence in Advising Award from the Florida Academic Advising Association (FLACADA) during the organization’s conference at Florida Atlantic University on May 10.

In November, Wance was recognized at the university-level when he won a USF Outstanding Academic Advising Award.

Wance advises pre-nursing students and oversees the Pre-Nursing Living Learning Community (LLC). In that role, he has created innovative programs and increased student success.

Wance said he is grateful for the recognition.

“I feel so blessed that I won these two awards this year. We have an amazing team in the College of Nursing Student Affairs Office, and winning these awards would not have happened without the support of my fellow staff,” he said.

“It is great to see that my hard work and dedication to helping pre-nursing students is being noticed. I always feel that I can keep improving, so I hope to continue advising for the semesters to come,” he added.

Julia Myers, assistant director of Student Programs and Academic Support at the College of Nursing, described Wance as “dedicated, passionate, engaging and caring.”

“He strives to do his best and continually looks for ways to improve his approach to connecting with students,” Myers wrote in Wance’s nomination letter.

Myers noted that Wance needed to create more than 200 individual schedules for each pre-nursing student, so he developed a survey to collect relevant information from each student. The survey results allowed him to personalize many of the schedules and eliminate multiple adjustments after orientation, thus saving valuable time.

And Wance doesn’t just advise students on the courses they take, but also creates workshops geared toward helping students plan for academic major and career options. For example, he collaborated with USF Career Services to help prepare students for their College of Nursing admissions interviews by developing tailored mock interviews, such as offering similar formatting and room locations.

In addition, Wance plans and facilitates many pre-nursing LLC events, such as Dining with the Deans, Ask a Nurse, and Pancakes and Planning, a morning advising session where advisors make pancakes for students and work on their academic plans.

“When I think of an undergraduate advisor who deserves to win the Excellence in Advising Award, I cannot think of anyone more deserving than Greg Wance,” wrote Myers.

Story by Elizabeth L. Brown, USF College of Nursing