You might say Debbie Pattni, 鈥06 MBA & Hotel Management and 鈥16 MEd Higher Education, was an advisor-in-training during her 22 years as a stay-at-home mom and community volunteer. She routinely did research and sent her three children to their high school counselors and 性视界传媒 advisors with detailed lists of questions. Before long, she was helping their friends get admitted, find scholarships, and select classes at 性视界传媒.
Joining the academic advising world full time in 2016 鈥 first at the Academic Success Center (ASC) and today as retention, progression & completion coordinator in the College of Liberal Arts鈥 Wilson Advising Center 鈥 seemed to be the natural next step. Now the award-winning advisor guides other people鈥檚 children, particularly those who may be struggling personally or academically, to the resources they need to 鈥渉ang in there鈥濃 and graduate.
Who did you look up to in your field when you first started?
I didn鈥檛 get hired right away. I applied for over a year after completing my MBA and hotel degrees. I thought those two colleges would hire me, but I never heard back. I did a little research and found that many academic advisors had the master of higher education degree, so I pursued that.
I ended up talking to Dr. Anne White in the ASC. She was in charge of coaching at the time, which I鈥檇 never heard of. I interviewed with her. She said, 鈥淵ou need some practical experience. Even with all your education, you don鈥檛 have any professional experience working with students.鈥 She hired me at 52, which was pretty old to start being an academic success coach graduate assistant. I really appreciated that because I could see that she believed it wasn鈥檛 an age thing; it鈥檚 a caring thing. After that, I always looked up to her for getting me on the right path. The first person who helps you is the one you feel most indebted to.
Tell us about a lesson you learned from a student.
It鈥檚 not just one lesson. I鈥檓 learning from their experiences. I鈥檝e learned that they are not looking for excuses for why they are not doing well. They鈥檙e telling me, 鈥淚 want to take more classes in the summer because I realize I鈥檓 not going to get anywhere without my degree鈥 or they鈥檙e telling me how determined they are, how they鈥檙e going to use their stimulus money to take summer classes. They are really determined. I鈥檝e learned a lot about their resilience and their adaptability. They just want someone to understand what they are going through.
Tell us more about your role and how it differs from that of an advisor.
It is an advisor. I have the privilege of doing this full time in this college. I report to the director, and I鈥檓 also a direct line to the office of Dr. (Laurel) Pritchard (vice provost for undergraduate education.) The university funded these roles to watch over 性视界传媒鈥檚 retention, progression, and completion initiatives. I run the graduation applications for every semester and make sure those are getting done. I make sure students know what to do and what classes to take. I also work with students on probation, returning from suspension, readmitted or non-degree seeking students 鈥 all those who may be failing or having trouble. I also help with the scholarships from the dean鈥檚 office. It鈥檚 really an advisor that has time to look out for all those initiatives. I鈥檝e been allowed to develop the role. I only advise 50 percent of the time. It varies with my administrative duties.
What鈥檚 your biggest pet peeve at work or in life?
I think it鈥檚 in life because work is such a positive place. It鈥檚 the environment of division that鈥檚 been created that isn鈥檛 really real. If you listen to the news, it sounds like (the university is) headed for disaster, nobody cares about higher ed, and everyone鈥檚 going to drop out. Then you come on campus and meet with students, and they don鈥檛 care about that stuff at all. They just want to get their degrees; they want to have a good life and career, especially our first-gen and DACA students. It鈥檚 just such a false representation, especially at 性视界传媒. There鈥檒l always be a few people who aren鈥檛 doing good things, but it鈥檚 just so unreal. I think people can get the wrong message. The students aren鈥檛 that upset about being online like you read in the news. They鈥檙e not just going to abandon their dreams of getting their degrees. Re-enrollment is going to be strong; it already is. I tracked the numbers. We鈥檙e already almost where we were last year, and we haven鈥檛 even started outreach yet. Students are just really focused on what they need to do so that when things get better, they鈥檙e where they need to be.
What is something people would be surprised to learn about you?
What surprises students is that I鈥檓 Mexican American and fluent in Spanish. I use it a lot with our first-generation students that come by in the fall. They usually bring parents in. It鈥檚 common if they don鈥檛 speak English that they are translating through the student, and I just talk to them directly. That shocks them, I guess, because I get told a lot that I don鈥檛 look Mexican. (One of) my undergraduate degrees was in Latin American studies (the other, business administration/marketing; both from University of the Pacific).
I think another thing that shocks a lot of people is that we really care about them. They鈥檒l say, 鈥淚 asked you this last time; I don鈥檛 want to bother you.鈥 But that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e here for. We鈥檙e being paid because we care about our students and we get to help them understand how the policies benefit them. They don鈥檛 often expect that.
Have you ever taken a personality test and what did you think of the results?
Yeah, because it鈥檚 required in every master鈥檚 program. It鈥檚 changed over the years. When I did the Myers-Briggs one, I was the introvert. I was the person who would rather work in the closet with accounting, a computer, no people contact all day because people just got in my way of getting work done. I was very much that way in all my previous life. In my career before I got married, I did accounts payable and construction contract administration. Before that, I was a project manager for multiple defense projects.
Then, of course, you have children and your life changes. When I came into higher ed, I became the extrovert. When it comes to teams in higher ed, I learned how much better it is to have people with different skill sets. And even though it delays the project and it comes out differently than you thought, it ends up being better for the students. Some 30 years later, I鈥檓 a completely different person.
Any mishaps related to working from home?
I鈥檝e had to change everything. I moved into my son鈥檚 old bedroom for my office. I鈥檓 at his little kid desk, and I was getting backaches like crazy from this little screen. My husband bought me a stand for my laptop to raise it up, and then I got my keyboard from the office. I still wasn鈥檛 able to see much because of this little screen. For Mother鈥檚 Day, my husband bought me a new monitor. Now I have dual screens. My husband鈥檚 an engineer; he鈥檚 really good with IT. I was having trouble with my internet. He cleaned off my whole system and added new software. I just tell my IT director, and he just fixes it all. Now I have this nice setup that鈥檚 almost better than my office. Now I鈥檓 so productive, I just kind of prefer to work at home.
What do you miss most about campus?
The energy on campus, all the funny things students do. The Wilson Advising Center is right in the middle of the big grassy area filled with all the Student Union activity. You can see them out there standing on their heads, drawing on their Art 101 boards. You can see them out there with rallies, all kinds of stuff that just reminds you that you鈥檙e in an undergraduate environment. I miss seeing the students interacting. It鈥檚 the culture. I know when we go back to campus, we won鈥檛 see that because that鈥檚 what we need to stay away from for a while. We鈥檒l miss that for a while. But I do talk to students a lot. Advisors are lucky; we get a lot of student interaction.
Binge-worthy recommendations?
One is . I love it, and another is . It鈥檚 got so many seasons, it鈥檒l keep me busy for a while. These shows are what politics could be. Maybe it鈥檚 my coping mechanism. I stopped watching the news completely. I only read the news now without all the extra interference from the other stuff. Before that, I didn鈥檛 watch a lot of TV. And I have been reading an entire series of middle school books I bought my kids 鈥 , , the series, and about 25 other books on my Kindle.
Best tip for staying cool in the summer?
We got new air conditioners in our house anticipating being home all summer. That鈥檚 what we do in Las Vegas in the summer 鈥 stay inside, stay in the A/C, jump in the pool. In the winter, we go to Mexico.
