SON staffer wins Outstanding Professional Advising Award

School of Nursing advisor Sarah Mullin is the inaugural recipient of OU's Outstanding Professional Advising Award.

By Dave Groves, news editor

Oakland University has awarded its first-ever Outstanding Professional Advising Award to Sarah Mullin, an academic advisor in the School of Nursing for the past 10 years and an OU alumna.

“I was very honored and excited to hear I had been selected for this award,” Mullin said. “We have wonderful and supportive professional advisers on this campus, and it was certainly a credit to be chosen from such a qualified and dedicated group. It was a true encouragement for me to receive this recognition.”

The award, sponsored by the Office of the Provost, recognizes an individual for extraordinary work in building mentoring relationships, developing strong leadership skills, contributing to the creation of new programs and achieving high student satisfaction.

Mullin was selected from a field of more than 200 advisors, whose nominations were reviewed by a selection committee comprised of faculty representatives from each of the university’s schools and college, the deans of students and academic affairs, and the Student Congress.

“I believe the voting members of the committee saw that Sarah went above and beyond her duties as an academic adviser,” said Maria DeWitt, chair of the Outstanding Academic Advising Selection Committee.

“She has spread a positive message among her students and is a positive influence in their lives. She is the recipient of past awards including the AP of the Month Award and she plans a student roundtable with the dean, and works extensively with the Dean's Circle Leadership nursing students.”

Mullin will receive an honorary plaque to commemorate the achievement, as well as a $1,000 stipend provided by the provost. Mullin also will represent Oakland University at the national level for the National Academic Advising Association’s Outstanding Advising Award.