Joyce Vest receives 2011 Provost Award for Excellence in Advising
Joyce Vest
BLACKSBURG, Va., April 22, 2011 – Joyce Vest, academic/career advisor in the Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, received the university's 2011 Provost Award for Excellence in Advising.
The Provost’s Award for Excellence in Advising is given annually to a Virginia Tech faculty or staff member who serves undergraduate advisees in exemplary ways. Awardees receive a $2,000 prize and are inducted into the university’s Academy of Advising Excellence.
Vest has served as the industrial and systems engineering academic advisor since 2005. The department currently enrolls approximately 480 undergraduate students.
“Joyce is widely regarded as an excellent advisor both by the undergraduate students she serves and the faculty with whom she works,” said Eileen Van Aken, associate professor and associate head, Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. “Student feedback through annual surveys indicates that advising is one of the department’s greatest strengths, and our faculty have come to rely heavily on her to assist them with individual student issues or concerns.”
Vest has implemented many systemic processes and activities that have improved the effectiveness in helping undergraduate students, Van Aken noted, including improved advising tools, new information sessions, seminars, and an increased accessibility to advisors. Vest was instrumental in launching the department’s Student Ambassador Program, which enables students to serve the department and develop leadership skills.
“I never cease to be amazed at how well Joyce knows our students,” Van Aken said. “She is accessible, she is proactive, she creates a sense of partnership with each student, she fosters individual student accountability, and she has a genuine care and concern for each student. She is most deserving of this award.”
Vest received her associate’s degree from New River Community College, a bachelor’s degree from Bluefield College, and a master’s degree from Virginia Tech.
The College of Engineering at Virginia Tech is internationally recognized for its excellence in 14 engineering disciplines and computer science. The college's 6,000 undergraduates benefit from an innovative curriculum that provides a "hands-on, minds-on" approach to engineering education, complementing classroom instruction with two unique design-and-build facilities and a strong Cooperative Education Program. With more than 50 research centers and numerous laboratories, the college offers its 2,000 graduate students opportunities in advanced fields of study such as biomedical engineering, state-of-the-art microelectronics, and nanotechnology. Virginia Tech, the most comprehensive university in Virginia, is dedicated to quality, innovation, and results to the commonwealth, the nation, and the world.
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