Montgomery Wins Best of Alabama Award at State Conference

Oct. 6, 2010

FLORENCE, Ala. – A University of North Alabama instructor was recently presented with a Best of Alabama award at the 2010 Alabama Academic Advisors’ Conference at UNA.

Stephanie Montgomery, instructor of speech communication, competed with 17 advisers from institutions across the state and Mississippi in connection with the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA).

Montgomery, who taught at UNA as an adjunct instructor from 1997 to 2005 and returned as a full-time instructor in 2007, was shocked that judges chose her for the Best of Alabama award.

“I was very surprised and very honored,” she said. “Winning this award has been a real confidence builder and has rejuvenated my research interests.”

Educators, staff and faculty from several Alabama universities judged the competition, which was hosted at UNA for the first time.

Montgomery was awarded for her presentation entitled “Communication and Advising: Unraveling the Non-Verbal Puzzle,” a work that focuses on the non-verbal cues advisers, instructors and students send to each other.

“UNA should be proud because her presentation was of such good quality that the national organization thought it should go on to the regional competition,” said Joan Williams, elected state representative for NACADA and assistant director for the UNA Office of Diversity and Institutional Equity. “It says a lot about our commitment to the advising process and how we value it.”

Montgomery will compete with other advisers at the NACADA Southeast Regional Conference in Birmingham March 13-15.

NACADA is an organization that encourages quality academic advising to improve the educational development of students.

For more information about the award, contact Williams at 256-765-6341 or jjwilliams@una.edu or Montgomery at 256-765-4247 or slmontgomery@una.edu.