Scoobie Ryan
Scoobie Ryan, faculty advisor in the College of Communication and Information, was awarded the 2016 Ken Freedman Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award.
Ryan is known among the College for her dedication to her advisees and her willingness to help students succeed.
“Scoobie is the person every student turns to when they need help, whether that help is for scheduling classes, providing insight into how to handle classwork or advice on how to generally handle life,” 2015 journalism graduate Casey Parker-Bell said of his former advisor. “She is quick with a smile and a laugh, but is not afraid to give the advice we need to hear.”
Despite her busy schedule, Ryan always makes time for her students.
“When she is in her office, the door is always open,” Parker-Bell said. “I can’t count the number of times I have stopped by to ask a question or to sit down and talk. She is always willing to give her time to me and to the other students I see flow in and out of her office. And there are many students that stop by Scoobie’s office.”
“I was humbled to receive the award,” Ryan said. “The students’ comments were quite sweet.”
These comments by students were included in her nomination, and Ryan was honored to receive the praise. She enjoys advising and helping her students.
“The best part about advising is that your students give you a grade, you don’t give them one,” Ryan said.
In addition to her recent Ken Freedman Outstanding Advisor Award, the CI Faculty Council also presented Ryan with the Outstanding CI Advisor Award.
Ryan has been advising since she came to UK in 1996. Prior to that she taught at George Mason University and worked as a reporter in Indianapolis, Boston and Denver. She earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of Missouri and her master’s degree at the Antioch School of Law.
Ryan currently serves on the Kentucky Kernel Board of Directors in addition to her faculty and advising roles.
The UK Advising Network, sponsored by the Division of Undergraduate Education, presents the Ken Freedman Outstanding Advisor Award annually to a professional advisor and a faculty advisor at UK. The award includes a luncheon, voucher for travel to an advising conference and nomination for the Region 3 Excellence in Advising Award
Ken Freedman, for whom the award is named, was one of the founding members of the UK Advising Network. He also served as an advisor at UK until his death in 2001.
2016 is the second year in a row that the College of Communication and Information has won the Freedman Award for Outstanding Faculty Advising. In 2015, Mike Farrell won the Freedman Award at UK, and went on to win the Advising Award for Region 3 and the national award for excellence in advising.