February 5, 2010
Nancy C. Walburn. Download image.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Nancy C. Walburn, director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Division of General Studies, has been named as one of 10 recipients of the Outstanding First-Year Student Advocate award by the National Resource Center for the First Year Experience and Students in Transition and Cengage Learning. The award honors faculty, administrators, staff and students for their work on behalf of first-year students in higher education.
Ten winners were selected from 97 nominees. Walburn will be honored during a reception and luncheon at the 29th annual Conference on the First-Year Experience scheduled for Feb. 12-16 in Denver. She and the other award winners also will be featured in the Feb. 5 edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education.
"I'm very pleased to receive this honor," said Walburn. "But this recognition really underscores the collaborative effort underneath all of the programs that we have created for freshman students at UAB."
The National Resource Center for the First Year Experience and Students in Transition, founded in 1986, supports and advances efforts to improve student learning and their transition into and through higher education.
Walburn is cited for her role in the creation of the initial First-Year Experience (FYE) course at UAB. The FYE is a combination of programs, courses and support services designed to help freshman students to make a smooth transition from high school to college. Walburn created the course, which is designed to enhance students' critical thinking skills.
Walburn worked closely with faculty members to develop Freshman Learning Communities at UAB, in which small groups of freshman are enrolled in the same courses linked by a common theme. Students in the learning communities can study together and receive support from instructors who take a personalized interest in their progress.
She also developed a Student Survival Guide for freshman undeclared majors as a way to help them adjust to college life.
Through Walburn's leadership, the advising of first-year and other students at UAB has been transformed and professionalized, said UAB Associate Provost for Undergraduate Programs Philip K. Way, Ph.D.
"The UAB Division of General Studies has become an exemplar for the university as a whole," said Way, "and Nancy has helped other units emulate what she has achieved, with tremendous benefits to students and the university. Further, over the years, Nancy has provided leadership for more and more student academic success initiatives available to all students."
Walburn began her career at UAB in 1986 as an adviser for undeclared majors. She was named director of the UAB Division of General Studies in 1991.
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