Poole Receives Excellence in Advising Award
Lee University’s Betsy Poole has been named the winner of the 2023 Excellence in Advising Award. Lee President Dr. Mark Walker officially recognized Poole for this award during commencement ceremonies earlier this month.
![Betsy Poole](https://www.leeuniversity.edu/wp-content/uploads/Betsy-Poole-1.jpg)
“I am truly honored to be recognized for this award,” said Poole. “Mentoring and learning from students is a passion of mine and does not feel like work to me at all. Getting to do what I love is a gift!”
Poole began teaching at Lee in 2013 as a part-time faculty member. In the fall of 2017, she joined the ranks of the full-time faculty as an assistant professor of Spanish and Linguistics.
In addition to teaching, Poole serves as coordinator of world languages and director of mentorship and literacy for CELL (Center for English Language and Literacy) at Lee. She also supervises the Master of Arts in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) thesis students at LCC International University in Klaipėda, Lithuania. Along with being fluent in Spanish, Poole has advanced reading proficiency in Portuguese, working knowledge of Mandarin Chinese, and is active in research on language pedagogy. She has also presented at many different conferences during her career.
“Advising at Lee University is more than helping students schedule the right classes; it includes genuinely caring for the overall wellbeing of students,” said Walker. “Betsy Poole demonstrates this kind of care with her students and is a worthy recipient of this award.”
The Excellence Awards are the highest honors presented to Lee faculty members. The Excellence in Advising Award recipient is chosen by a faculty committee, which reviews a three-year history of student advisor evaluation data and other information provided by the nominating department chairs and deans.