Born and raised in the Arkansas River Valley, Sheri Lynn Brown managed the office of Richard Hudson, the University of Arkansas’ former Vice Chancellor for Government and Community Relations, for six years before joining the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design’s advising staff in 2008. She has an Associate of Science degree in psychology from Westark Community College (now the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith). In fall 2007, she completed a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies, with a minor in history, at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.
Brown enjoys guiding students through their academic careers and helping them to succeed. She is the senior academic counselor for the Fay Jones School and manages advising for second- through fifth-year students across all three departments.
What brought you to the University of Arkansas?
I was working at a law office here in Fayetteville as a legal secretary. I loved my job, but my son was about 8 years old, and I was recently remarried. I was working, and I needed to be able to pay more attention to my son. I left the law office, and I got a part-time job at the university working with Richard Hudson, former Vice Chancellor for Government and Community Relations. I worked from 8 a.m. to noon, and I was able to spend more time with my son and volunteer at his school. I felt like I was able to get back in touch with him.
I continued working with Richard for six years. During that time, I decided I wanted to complete my undergraduate degree. I wasn’t a full-time employee, so I didn’t get the tuition waiver. I paid for all of it. I finished my degree in fall 2007. After that, I felt more grounded, so I started looking for another job. The academic counselor position at the Fay Jones School came open. The job seemed meaningful to me because I was a brand-new graduate, so I was well-versed in how the university operates from the students’ perspective and understood the administrative side. I also had always been fascinated by the work and thought it would be an interesting job. I started on April 1, 2008. I’ve been here for 16 years and on campus for almost 22 years.
Do you still believe in the importance of being an academic counselor?
I do. We are in the trenches here. At the Fay Jones School, students do so much to get here, study here, and then ultimately to successfully leave here. And the academic advisors put a lot of work in to make that happen. I don’t feel like the university pays a lot of attention to the work that goes into that. But I am glad I am at the Fay Jones School doing this work, I can’t imagine working in another college on campus. Even on our worst days here, it’s never as bad as it could be. I can’t imagine keeping track of all those students in some of the bigger colleges across campus. But we do have a good network of academic counselors across campus. I’m active in the Academic Advising Council, which consists of all the advising leads in all colleges on campus. We meet monthly, and we review and consider everything academic. It helps to know how other people manage.
What about the advising world do you think people might not understand?
I think a lot of people think we’re just like a high school guidance counselor. But we are very much academic advisors, the key word being “academic.” Students see us as a one-stop shop, and they think they should be able to just talk to us and get everything taken care of. But some things we can’t help with. We don’t handle financials. We cannot intervene when they have an issue with a course or an instructor. And we need to be speaking with the student, not the parent. Any information must come from their student. We prefer to be working with the student directly.
Do you feel like you’ve seen an increase in parent involvement in recent years?
I would say that’s probably always been the case. What has gotten worse is, it seems there has been an increase in students who lack critical thinking skills. I would say that’s probably the hardest thing that we deal with, getting them to read and understand an e-mail completely. It’s a challenge. Most of our students are well prepared, but not always ready for prime time. There’s a lot of training that we have to do to bridge that gap between being a high school student and being a college student.
What is the most difficult part of your job?
Giving bad news. When a student doesn’t pass the requirements to continue the program, it typically falls on me to communicate. It’s something that has to be done, so I’ve gotten used to it, but it’s still tough. I think it helps to be a mother. I hope that I can help the students understand that this is not the end.
If you weren’t in your current position, what would you want to be doing?
I’d want to be an Egyptologist. I’ve always wanted to be, and I was on my way to doing that, but I was convinced out of it. But I think that experience has helped me in my academic advising. I usually try my best to help students navigate what it is they really want to do because I regret not becoming an archaeologist.
What accomplishments are you proudest of?
The number one biggest thing I’m proud of is my son. He’s a police officer. He’s very hard-working. I also have about 15 hours of graduate studies, even though I decided not to finish that degree, I’m still proud of the work I put in.
What is something you wish students, families, or the college community knew about you?
That I’m human. I can be cranky, but ultimately, I try to remember that everyone has their own story. I try to deal with people on an individual basis. It can be challenging to pull that off at times. I advise a lot of students, and I recognize them all. And that is part of what makes it hard when I must share bad news. But watching them walk across the stage at commencement makes up for all the ups and downs.