Four academic advising professionals — faculty and staff alike — are the first at UC Davis to receive Excellence in Advising Awards at the regional level. The honorees:

• Hwai-Jong Cheng, professor, Center for Neuroscience, in the “faculty advisor” category
• Ed DePeters, professor, Department of Animal Science, in the “faculty advisor” category
• Beth Floyd, director, Academic Advising, College of Letters and Science, in the “advising administrator” category
• Melissa Whaley, student affairs officer, Department of Environmental Science and Policy, in the “advisory primary role” category

The awards are from the Pacific Region of the National Academic Advising Association, or NACADA. 

“I am especially proud of the fact that the advising excellence of both faculty and professional staff has been acknowledged by our NACADA region,” said Carolyn Thomas, vice provost and dean of Undergraduate Education. “These awards recognize our campus’s renewed dedication to student success.”

Academic Advising plans to nominate all four regional award recipients for national advising awards.

Cheng, Floyd and Whaley were among eight recipients of the campus’s 2015 Advising Awards, which honored Floyd as Outstanding Advising Administrator, Whaley as Outstanding Innovative Advisor and Cheng as Outstanding Faculty Advisor.

The other campus Advising Award recipients:

• Perry Gee, Department of Chemistry — Outstanding Academic Advisor
• Laura Knox, Deans Office, College of Letters and Science — Outstanding Peer Advisor
• Eric Sanchez, assistant director, TRIO Scholars Program, Student Academic Success Center — Outstanding Student Affairs Advisor
• Joanne Snapp, director, Health Professions, College of Biological Sciences — Outstanding Campus Collaborator
• Julie King Zech, Dean’s Office, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences — Outstanding New Advisor