MCC Outstanding Faculty Advisors

Laurie Snyder

Being a good listener. Offering suggestions that could change lives. Spending as much time as needed with students who need help. These are all job requirements –carried out with purpose and passion – that earned both Laurie Snyder and Richard Stevens a 2007 Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Advisor award for their work at MCC’s Damon City Campus (DCC).

“There’s a certain connection that occurs immediately, just from being open and wanting to relate in a meaningful way to each student,” explains Snyder, who has taught in the college’s Transitional Studies department and recently began a position as retention advisor at DCC.

Snyder’s nomination letter points out that she “projects patience and a non-judgmental attitude that puts students at ease.” Occasionally finding a line of students waiting to speak with her, she makes time to take a “mental pause and a deep breath” between appointments, which clears her mind and prepares her for dealing with an entirely new, equally important set of circumstances.

Snyder, who jogs about five miles a day and practices yoga, lives in Brighton and has one daughter

Richard Stevens

Stevens, assistant professor of biology, is obligated to spend roughly an hour a week advising students but often stays late to make sure students are getting every piece of information they need to succeed.

 “They’re raising a lot of kids by themselves and working an awful lot of hours, and they’re just determined to make themselves better people,” he says. “I think, wow, these people are way more motivated than I ever was. It’s really refreshing to see, and you want them to do well.”

In his nomination letter, Stevens is described as a “knowledgeable and thoughtful” faculty member who learned as much as possible about the advising resources available before beginning his work with students.