Ivy Tech Bloomington academic advisors earn statewide awards

Award recipients from left to right: Neil Frederick (Veteran Advisor Award), Diana Holtsclaw (Gerald I. Lamkin Award for Excellence in Instruction), and Kristy LeVert (Friend of Advising Award)

BLOOMINGTON – Two academic advisors from Ivy Tech Community College’s Bloomington campus earned half of the awards at Ivy Tech’s statewide Student Success Summit held on April 12-13 in French Lick, Ind. at the French Lick Resort. Of advisor nominations made statewide in four categories, Neil Frederick, academic advisor, was awarded the Veteran Advisor Award and Kristy LeVert, director of retention, was awarded the Friend of Advising Award.

There were more than 500 nominations received from students and 100 nominations from faculty and staff statewide.

“There are roughly 200 academic advisors in the Ivy Tech Community College system,” said Chancellor Jennie Vaughan. “Yet, it is no surprise to anyone who works with Neil and Kristy that they earned these statewide awards for their dedication to student success.”

Frederick was nominated for the Veteran Advisor Award because of his passion for academic advising and tireless support of students. Frederick has worked at Ivy Tech since 1998. In his 30 years, he’s served in admissions, career services, business and industry training, recruitment, and currently advising. He holds a bachelor’s degree in social work from Ball State University. He completed the college’s Leadership Academy in 2004. He hopes to positively impact students who aspire to better themselves through the opportunities that education can provide.

LeVert was nominated for the Friend of Advising award because she consistently goes above and beyond to assist students in need of academic and college support services. LeVert has worked at Ivy Tech Bloomington since 2013, starting as assistant director at the Center for Lifelong Learning, and became the director of retention in 2014. She holds a Master of Public Administration from the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs and a bachelor’s degree from Purdue University. LeVert has worked to develop success programs such as the student resource fair, Ivy Prep, student success coaching, the Three Points, employee ambassadors, and the tutoring center.

Eliza Erxleben, director of academic advising at Ivy Tech Bloomington, says that her team received nominations in all four award categories. “Bloomington’s academic advising team had numerous nominations in all four categories, and has received statewide awards in two of the four categories each year since the college began recognizing advisors in 2015,” she said. “This is truly a testament of the dedication our faculty and staff show toward the pursuit of student success.”

“The success of the Bloomington advising team is also a testament to the positive and effective leadership that Eliza provides, for the benefit of students,” said Chancellor Vaughan.

There’s still time to enroll in summer classes and fall registration is open. Call for an appointment at (812) 330-6013 or visit Ivy Tech at 200 Daniels Way, on the west side of Bloomington.