UCalgary undergraduate specialist wins 2024 NACADA Region 8 Student Advising Award

An undergraduate program specialist with the University of Calgary’s School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape (SAPL) recently received an international honour from the leading global association for the advancement of student success through excellence in academic advising in higher education.

Sarah Ha received the Region 8 Excellence in Advising Award from the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA). Region 8 covers Alaska, Alberta, B.C., Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and the Yukon. The award recognizes individuals who provide outstanding academic advising support to students and demonstrate practices that make significant contributions to the improvement of the field. 

“I love working with people and especially with students because I find it to be very rewarding, especially when I see them experience those ‘aha’ moments of learning and realization,” says Ha, BComm’09, BA’09. “I see them grow as a person and they also, in turn, teach me in the process.” 

Ha joined UCalgary’s Residence Services in 2012, and since then has also worked with the Student Success Centre and the Faculty of Science. When SAPL launched its Bachelor of City Innovation (BDCI) program in 2022 (with its first cohort in fall 2023), she saw an opportunity to help develop innovative advising processes for the new undergrad program, working with its leadership team on an advising model incorporating design thinking, design practices, and looking at what design schools expect from students. 

“We are aware of the different types of supports we want to give our students,” says Ha. “But how do we take what's been established elsewhere and develop supports that are more tailored to a design school, going beyond the ways advising is conceived in higher education broadly?” 

Ha is dedicated to proactive advising; a student-centred approach that focuses on early intervention to support student success. It’s a holistic approach to traditional advising that prioritizes building trust and teaching students forward-thinking habits, empowering students to develop self-advocacy and problem-solving skills. 

“Having healthy advisor-student relationships, proactively sharing information, and proactively being there for students - both through informal conversations and structured engagements like dedicated workshops and info sessions - encourages them to acknowledge and understand the importance of these relationships and resources, further encouraging them to share with their peers,” says Ha.

Describing proactive advising as “a collaborative effort,” Ha tries to involve students and faculty whenever possible. 

“In the very first semester of BDCI, I started doing weekly check-ins where I would go into their studio homeroom once a week for an hour just to say ‘hi,’ see how things were going and ask if they had questions,” she says. “That really helped me build a lot of rapport with the students.  

“There were a lot of students who were talking about being stressed because they had a lot of overlapping deadlines in all their design courses. I was able to take those feelings and experiences and bring it up to the associate dean and BDCI instructors.” 

As a result, Ha says, the associate dean (undergraduate) worked with instructors in the second BDCI semester to co-ordinate deadlines between all courses and prevent any overlaps. This is only one example of a successful effort that involved input from a wide array of perspectives and has now become standard practice in the program.

"Sarah is a key part of the BDCI students’ experience,” says second-year student Julia Law, part of the inaugural BDCI cohort and the 2024-2025 SAPL Faculty Representative for the UCalgary Students’ Union.

“She develops connections very early on with each student to help them feel welcomed and understood,” says Law. “This connection allows for one of the best advisors-to-student connections I have ever seen. Students are open, willing to talk about their goals, their education, and even their day-to-day lives with her.”   

Ha’s approach has also facilitated constructive and collaborative conversations amongst students, faculty and staff.  

"Working closely with Sarah in the BDCI program has been a privilege,” says SAPL Asst. Prof. Chad Connery. “Her commitment to personalized student advising has made her a keystone member of our teaching team … she's made my teaching more effective and tailored to the student body. 

“There's no question to me that Sarah is both a leader and a key support structure in our school.” 

Ha’s work has been invaluable, says Alberto de Salvatierra, SAPL associate dean (undergraduate) and associate professor.   

“Sarah is an outstandingly competent and exemplary member of the BDCI team that has been instrumental in organizing, setting up and leading the advising structure within the program,” he says. “She is organized, motivated and highly dedicated to implementing considerate and effective advising processes at SAPL, crucial to our students’ success. It is a triumph for our program to be able to offer award-winning student advising.” 

The NACADA recognition isn’t Ha’s only recent honour. She and de Salvatierra were recently awarded a three-year UCalgary Teaching and Learning Grant from the Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning for their joint research project, “Advising, Teaching and Programmatic Approaches for Enhanced Student Outcomes.”   

“It’s very exciting that a faculty member and a support staff member are working together on research,” says Ha. “This grant recognizes and reaffirms the BDCI’s commitment to innovatively deliver a stimulating and productive collegiate experience for our students.”