UGA’s Outstanding Advisor/Mentor Award will be presented this year to Mark Compton, a faculty member in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and Patricia Hoyt, a program coordinator in the Terry College of Business.
The award is presented each spring to faculty and staff members for excellence in advising undergraduate students on class selection and course of study, assisting them with academic problems and providing guidance on related matters such as decisions about graduate school and careers.
For 20 years, Compton, an associate professor of poultry science, has advised an average of 60 students each semester. His department head, in a nominating letter, said Compton provides students with “a plethora of options and then educates and empowers them to make sound decisions.”
Students say Compton is devoted and passionate about advising, and praise him for giving freely of his time and taking a personal interest in their academic progress.
Hoyt, who works in Terry College’s J.M. Tull School of Accounting, has been an adviser for 23 years. Though advising is only 65 percent of her job responsibilities, she advises about 160 students each semester.
One of her student nominators wrote, “She always greeted us with a smile, accepted unannounced visits, forgave missed appointments and offered words of encouragement.” Another wrote, “I just wish I had a Patti for the real world!”
Compton and Hoyt will receive a cash award and a plaque and will be recognized at Honors Day and at the Faculty Recognition Banquet.
Recipients are chosen by a committee composed of a previous winner, an advising administrator and a majority of undergraduate students, one of whom chairs the meeting at which nominations are reviewed and winners are chosen. The award is administered by the Office of the Vice President for Instruction.
