Honoring an advocate: Tanner Wilson named SDSU’s Staff Advisor of the Year
On June 5, Tanner Wilson was named San Diego State University’s Staff Advisor of the Year, an honor bestowed by Faculty Advancement and Student Success.
Yet while “advisor” is technically in his job title, “advocate” might just be a little more apt.
“I don't think people often see advisors as change agents, but I like to see it that way,” said Wilson, who just completed his third full academic year as an undergraduate advisor in the College of Education Office for Student Success (OSS). “It’s not just how I can help a student change their life during the day, but how I can help our programs change to better support students long-term.”
In OSS, Wilson is part of a three-person team that handles all the advising duties for the college’s approximately 1,500 undergraduate students spread across the liberal studies, child development and leadership studies majors. Wilson draws on insight learned from his time as a former high school show choir teacher, an experience that ensures students seeking careers in education receive insight into systems and individualized support.
"You have students who have it all figured out and you have students who got lost along the way somewhere,” Wilson said. “What I tend to tell students when I meet with them is that I'm Google Maps. I'm not driving the car, but when they get lost I'll help them reroute.”
Wilson was nominated for the award by Paul Justice, OSS coordinator, and fellow College advisor Alison Sternal, who won the Staff Advisor of the Year honor in 2021.
“I’ve been very fortunate in my role as OSS Lead to support Tanner’s advising efforts the past three years, and I have been both impressed and envious of his talent,” Justice said. “I say ‘impressed’ because, as a retired academic advisor, I’m well-versed with the logistical challenges associated with advising undergraduate students at a large university. I say ‘envious’ because I recognize in Tanner exceptional interpersonal skills that I could have benefitted from in my efforts to serve students over the years.”
Wilson discovered his love for advising while a student in SDSU’s Postsecondary Educational Leadership and Student Affairs (PELSA) master’s program. During his studies, he interviewed Cathy Rivas, Assistant Director of Advising at California State University Fullerton — Wilson’s undergraduate alma mater. It was an experience that changed his perspective on the field.
“She was the one who said, ‘I like being an advisor because it allows me to engage in advocacy work,’” Wilson recalls. “Up until that interview, I had never really clocked that you could engage in advocacy from the advising standpoint and create change.”
Now, making a difference is always top of mind.
Oftentimes, during a 15 or 30-minute advising session, Wilson will pick up on systemic barriers that a student is running up against — and he’s not afraid to take concerns up the ladder. He recently worked with one major to make data-driven changes to its prerequisite sequence to help ensure students can graduate on time.
At Commencement in May, Wilson had conversations with former advisees that underscored why what he does matters.
One was a young man who Wilson helped get reinstated and back on track after being academically disqualified. He is now a graduate who is on track to achieving his dream of becoming a remedial math teacher. The other was a young woman who had to miss time because of a serious medical issue and other hardships who Wilson connected to campus resources.
"Both of them told me they got to commencement because of me,” Wilson said. “I told them, ‘No, both of you got to Commencement because of your hard work. I was just there with the pom-poms.’"
