At BYU Continuing Education (CE), academic advisors have a much larger role than just helping students to decide on classes, they help guide students through academic journeys and beyond. With students coming from different backgrounds with various goals, advisors like Natalie Chambers, Dustin Cheney, Meg Ernstrom, Paul Gillespie, Sarah Larson, and Amanda Shrum offer individualized support to help shape their lives and futures.
Natalie Chambers: Appreciative Advising and the Power of Positivity
“I try to discover as much as possible about the student and their dreams,” said Natalie Chambers, an advisor for BYU FlexGE and Bachelor of General Studies (BGS) students. She uses the appreciative advising framework, which she described as “starting in the discover and the dream phases,” focusing on students’ goals and aspirations. “When you start by really trying to home in on what their goals are, it helps everything else fall into place,” she said.
Chambers asks open-ended questions like, “What do you want life to look like when you finish school?” and “Are these dreams really yours, or someone else’s?” to empower students and build their confidence. “Self-efficacy [a belief in their own ability to succeed] is a significant factor in their success,” she noted. She believes positivity is key: “I think just bringing an air of positivity to every interaction you have—even if it’s on an email saying, ‘You’re doing such a great job’—really helps.”
She also likens her work to detective work. “We kind of joke that we’re super sleuths,” she said, recalling a time she helped a student find a path to graduation by discovering two missing classes he could finish through BYU Independent Study.
Dustin Cheney: In Their Corner
“I've been able to bring a unique perspective to some of my students and really connect with them on an age-wise basis. I feel I can better understand where they're coming from,” said Dustin Cheney, who is the youngest member of the team and most recent hire.
Cheney started as an academic advisor about 6 months ago and has been able to utilize his experience as a BYU student to guide him in his advising sessions. “I'm able to be like, ‘I took this class from this professor, and it's a really good class to take.’ A lot of the time, in my personal experience, I feel like it's been able to help ease some students."
One of the things Cheney noted that students take notice of is the support. "Having someone in their corner is something that the students really appreciate, and I've seen that across all of my students," he said. “Every day I tell my students, ‘Hey, just know that if there's someone in your corner backing you up and it's me, we're going to get through this. We're going to fulfill your goals.”
Meg Ernstrom: Turning to the Lord in All Things
“I pray every day before I come to work,” said Meg Ernstrom, an advisor for BYU FlexGE and BGS students. “I could not do my job without the help of the Spirit.”
For Ernstrom, academic advising is deeply tied to faith. “Helping them see, OK, if this is your goal, these are the steps you need to get there,” she said. “But I remind them who and whose they are.”
Ernstrom also often shares a message of divine identity and purpose with students she meets with. “Heavenly Father never forgets [us],” she said. “One of the first things we learned from Joseph Smith’s First Vision is that God the Father knew his name not because he was going to be the Prophet of the Restoration, but because he was His son … just like every person who meets with me is the son or daughter of God.”
In her work, Ernstrom strives to “help them challenge themselves without getting snowed, without being just completely overwhelmed.” She encourages students to ask, “Do I want this?” and then “take it to the Lord.”
Above all, she hopes students know she is in their corner: “I’ll do everything I can to help them.”
Paul Gillespie: Guiding the Transition with Experience and Perspective
“My path is probably non-standard,” said Paul Gillespie, who transitioned from a thirty-year career as an Air Force officer to advising at BYU. “I was at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, and my additional duty was academic advisement. That’s where I realized I had a passion for it.”
With his own background in both computer engineering and history, Gillespie brings a unique perspective to students, especially those who are unsure about choosing a major. “It [helps] that I have a background in both humanities and STEM,” he explained. “I could tell students, ‘Contrary to popular belief, you can get a job with a humanities major.’”
What Gillespie enjoys most about his work is helping students in this pivotal phase of life. “It’s a really exciting, but in some ways challenging, chapter,” he said. “It’s very fulfilling to help students make that transition from living with mom and dad to independent adulthood.”
Sarah Larson: Walking the Same Path
I feel like I can really relate to underdog students because I was one,” said Sarah Larson, an academic advisor for BYU FlexGE and BGS. “Twice I didn’t get into BYU . . . so I know what it’s like to get that rejection and then want to persevere and do it anyway.”
Having completed her own degree while raising five children, Larson also understands the challenges non-traditional students face. “When I had kids, I kept doing one class at a time until I eventually graduated as a 13th-year senior,” she explained. “Being able to empathize with those students and say, ‘I’ve been there, and you can do it’—that’s my favorite.”
Larson also views academic advising as a personal calling. “I remember seeing the job posting and thinking that would fill my soul,” she said. “I love being on campus involved in the excitement of learning and progression.”
At the end of the day, what matters most to Larson is to see her students succeed. "I love helping people accomplish what's important to them!"
Amanda Shrum: Guiding Through Parallel Planning
Amanda Shrum understands that for most students enrolled in the BYU FlexGE program, the end goal is getting into BYU, but for many, that doesn’t pan out. To help those students who don’t get admitted to BYU, she works with them to discover other opportunities. “We call them parallel plans,” she said. “I don’t like using the word backup plan because that makes it sound not as good, and I really don’t think that’s true.”
People’s concerns are often like icebergs; only a small part is visible above the surface, while the deeper issues remain complex and difficult to resolve. As an academic advisor, Shrum works to uncover the underlying issues that are driving the students desire to attend BYU. “A lot of times it is that they want that religious aspect,” she said. “So, I bring up other church schools like Ensign or BYU–Idaho.”
Aligning students’ goals with the right opportunities is where Shrum really shines. “I think that the best advice is that there’s no one path to get to where you want to go,” she said. “You just never know what the future will hold.”
Importance of Advising
The work of BYU CE academic advisors transcends course registration, as these advisors have demonstrated. It’s about nurturing students’ dreams, building their confidence, drawing from personal experience, and—even in moments of uncertainty—helping them find their way along their academic journey.
Whether reminding a student of their divine identity, encouraging them through appreciative advising, or helping them create alternative paths through parallel planning, each advisor brings their own unique perspective that allows them to be effective in helping students to accomplish their goals.
Behind every enrollment in BYU CE programs is a story, and behind each of those stories is someone like Natalie, Dustin, Meg, Paul, Sarah, or Amanda who is committed to listening, supporting, and uplifting them to fulfill BYU CE’s mission to inspire lifelong learning to benefit the world.