University of Utah College of Fine Arts Associate Dean for Undergraduate Student Affairs, Liz Leckie, PhD, has done it again. After being named the U’s 2024 Outstanding Academic Advising Administrator, she was nominated for and has been chosen by NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising as the 2025 Global Award for Outstanding Advising Administrator. These awards, which are designed to recognize individuals and institutions around the world who are making significant contributions to the improvement of academic advising within higher education, are among the top honors for the field.
Honored by the recognition (and true to form), Leckie’s response to the award focused squarely on the work.
“I firmly believe in the work academic advisors do to support students’ educational journeys and success. Championing this work in every sphere is one of my most prized administrative responsibilities, and I thank the University of Utah for providing me with the opportunities to fulfill it.”
The nomination was written by Madeline Rencher, co-chair of the University of Utah’s Academic Advising Community (UAAC) Awards Committee.
"Liz is an advising administrator who reflects and represents, without a doubt, NACADA’s core values of caring, commitment, empowerment, inclusivity, integrity, professionalism, and respect,” Rencher said. “Within the advising world on campus, Liz is sought after as a fantastic advising administrator, leader, and campus partner. Her proactivity, creativity, thoughtfulness and energy truly make a difference. Liz’s work is key to the success of the advising profession not only within the College of Fine Arts, but campus wide at the University of Utah. Throughout her 20 years within academic advising, Liz continues to set the standard for the role of an advising administrator, and we are lucky to have her on our
campus."
An academic advisor and then supervisor of academic advisors at the University of Utah since 2002, Leckie has previously worked in the Academic Advising Center and in the Colleges of Humanities and Nursing. It was in 2012 that she joined the College of Fine Arts and started her profoundly impactful, often decorated work creating opportunity and access for students studying in the fine arts.
And it’s not just students who blossom under Leckie’s guidance and direction. A seasoned leader, she oversees a highly productive and wildly successful seven-member team of academic advisors and coordinators in the CFA.
Not surprisingly, her team has been widely recognized and awarded for their work as well. Samuel Banford, Jenn McLaurin, Rae Luebbert, and Paige Tinsman are all recipients of Academic Advising Center’s Advisor of the Month Award (some more than once). McLaurin also won the Outstanding Experienced Advisor Award in 2025. Internship Coordinator Kate Wolsey (also supervised by Leckie) is recipient of a Career Champion award and U Career’s Partner of the Year in 2024. And Andrew Grace is the recipient of the CFA’s 2022 Staff Excellence Award.
Programs Leckie has built from the ground up have also been recognized for their transformative impact on the student experience, including the Fine Arts Fees (FAF) Grants and ArtsForce programs, which were both honored as University of Utah Beacons of Excellence.
In 2018, she and the CFA Academic Advising team launched Create Success, a data-informed initiative to help current CFA undergraduate students connect to academic advisors and resources, as well as inform CFA academic units of barriers undergraduate students may face as they pursue their degrees and dreams. This initiative (and many other strategies developed by Leckie and her team) has improved student retention and graduation rates across the college. “I have been consistently impressed by Dr. Leckie’s dedication to student success; exceptional communication, interpersonal, and leadership skills; and unyielding commitment to improving systems, processes, and services to best meet the needs and advancement of our students,” said College of Fine Arts Dean John Scheib.
Leckie is also a critically important member of the CFA’s leadership team and the Dean’s Cabinet. In recognition of her outstanding contributions to our institution, Leckie has received the University of Utah Diversity Award, Philip and Miriam Perlman Award for Excellence in Student Counseling and Advising, and the University’s Beacons of Excellence Award. In addition, Leckie currently serves as the inaugural chair of the Uni
versity’s Academic Advising Standards Council, an important and prestigious appointment highlighting the respect and high esteem she has earned across the institution.
“You would be hard pressed to find a more qualified, skilled, insightful, and experienced professional and leader in this area with such an impressive list of appointments, awards, and accomplishments fitting with this award,” Scheib said.
Leckie shares the glory. “My deepest appreciation goes to everyone who helped me achieve this recognition and who continues to support both my work and me personally.”
The honor of NACADA Outstanding Advising Administrator is shared by Shari Lindsey from the U College of Health who won the same award in 2023.
