Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE - University of Wisconsin-Platteville professor Mike Compton has been chosen to receive the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) Outstanding Advising Certificate of Merit in the faculty advising category. A Certificate of Merit will be presented to Compton at the special awards ceremony and reception being held at the annual NACADA Conference in Indianapolis, Ind., in October.

According to the NACADA National Awards Program, the goal of NACADA is to encourage wider support and recognition for academic advising in colleges and universities by providing an opportunity for recognition of outstanding advising. An ultimate goal of this program is to improve advising services for students. Since 1983, NACADA has honored individuals and institutions making significant contributions to the improvement of academic advising.

Nominating Compton for this award was Tammy Salmon-Stephens, the senior director of the Women in Engineering Program and engineering advising office at UWP. Due to the fact that each university can only nominate one individual for this award each year, both an Advisor Award Selection Committee and the UWP Advising Team review candidates and select the one whom they believe exemplifies what they want UWP to stand for. This year both committees selected Compton to move forward to the national nomination process making Salmon-Stephens' job an easy one. "One of the things that really impressed me about Mike's balance between teaching and advising is that there really is no distinction between Mike's method of teaching and his methods of advising," relays Salmon-Stephens. "He believes and demonstrates that advising and teaching are synonymous. Evidence of this is found in every aspect of Mike's philosophies on teaching and advising." "I believe that advising is not just limited to helping students devise course schedules prior to the registration period," says Compton, "but also occurs every day in the classroom, when we work with students on independent study projects or student work positions, and when we advise student organizations."

Compton wears many hats at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. In addition to teaching ornamental horticulture and plant biotechnology classes, he is also the program director of ornamental horticulture and soil and crop science, faculty supervisor of the Pioneer Greenhouse and Gardens Complex, faculty advisor for the horticulture club and Pi Alpha Xi, coach of the UWP floral crop quality evaluation and design team, and active in working with students on grant-funded research projects. "Advising student organizations gives me an opportunity to know students on a more personal level," Compton asserts. "My advising role in this situation is to provide 'gentle advise' to support and foster the development of leadership characteristics among the student officers and organization members, as well as help the students work together to achieve their goals."

According to Mark Zidon, professor in UWP's School of Agriculture, "Compton balances teaching, research, service and managing a greenhouse. While doing this, the students always come first to him. He has great respect and rapport with his students and continually receives outstanding scores from students on course evaluations. His devotion to his work goes beyond expectations." "I am very honored to be recognized for my advising efforts and to join a prestigious group of individuals from our campus that I have admired since coming to UWP," declares Compton. "There are many individuals on our campus that deserve recognition for their dedication to undergraduate students. I wish to thank Ms. Kathryn DePauw, Ms. Holly Ziobro, Ms. Lisa Laschinger, Dr. Sue Price and Dr. Mark Zidon for their letters of support, and my wife Peggy for her support and assistance in helping me put into words my passion for working with students."

Contact: Tammy Salmon-Stephens, senior director, Women in Engineering Program and engineering advising office, (608) 342-1563,salmont@uwplatt.edu

Prepared by: Marsha Pauly, UWP Public Relations, (608) 342-1194,paulym@uwplatt.edu