The University of Arkansas Teaching Academy Inducts Tish Pohl as Fellow

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• The University of Arkansas Teaching Academy Inducts Tish Pohl as Fellow

The University of Arkansas Teaching Academy recently inducted five new Fellows.
Among those honored was Tish Pohl, Clinical Assistant Professor, Industrial Engineering.

This is not the first award for Pohl as she was also recognized by the Arkansas Academic Advising Council in March 2016 with the 2016-2017 Outstanding Advisor Award. As a recipient of the award she was nominated for national recognition through the National Academic Advising Association.

In May of 2016, the National Academic Advising Association, or NACADA, awarded Pohl a Certificate of Merit for Faculty Advising. Established in 1983, the NACADA Annual Awards Program for Academic Advising honors individuals and institutions making significant contributions to the improvement of academic advising.

In her role as academic advisor to all industrial engineering undergraduates, Pohl meets with each advisee at least once a semester and helps them with course selection, developing a plan of study, questions about minors, transfer credit, study abroad opportunities, graduate school and services on campus. In addition, she writes letters of recommendation for scholarships, internships, employment and graduate school. She also pairs students with alumni mentors who are working in the industrial engineering field.

In addition to advising all undergraduate industrial engineering majors, Pohl teaches five courses throughout the academic year and serves as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) coordinator for the Department of Industrial Engineering.

Pohl says that her advising philosophy is “quite simple.” She wants her students to “be the best they can be” acknowledging that “this means something different for each student” who walks into her office.  A current advisee captured Pohl’s ability to personalize the academic advising experience in a letter of support stating that Pohl “tailored my advising meeting to the specific needs of my curriculum and never failed to suggest all of the opportunities or avenues available within the department.”

Kim Needy, dean of the Graduate School and International Education, hired Pohl when she was head of the industrial engineering department, and believes that Pohl has had a positive effect on the advising that the department offers.

“I believe it is now a benchmark within the College of Engineering, the U of A and across the country,” said Needy. “Dr. Pohl spent significant time designing and refining our advising process. She studied other successful programs within the College of Engineering and other industrial engineering departments across the country, and educated herself on the process by attending conferences. But beyond academic advising, what is really great is that Dr. Pohl has made a true connection with our students, one that is deep and long-lasting.”

In addition to her honor as Fellow, Pohl was also recognized as being a finalist for the 2016 Dr. John and Mrs. Lois Imhoff Award for Outstanding Teaching and Student Mentorship by the Teaching Academy.

The Teaching Academy consists of faculty members who have been recognized by their peers, colleges, and the university, for excellence in teaching. Other criteria include a professor’s ability to establish a special rapport with students, to instill a love for learning, and to encourage students to go beyond the expectations of the classroom and to explore their disciplines for themselves.

The Teaching Academy logo represents a drop of water falling into a pond creating ripples spreading out in all directions, having an effect which can neither be controlled nor predicted. So it is with the effect of outstanding teaching on students. For more information on the Teaching Academy, see uateach.uark.edu

March 28, 2017