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On Tuesday, July 1^st, Ignite held its first Experiential Speed Networking event at the Cypress Theater. As a tie-in to GT 1000’s Experiential Week, over 90 Ignite students connected with Academic Success and Advising (ASA), the Office of Experiential and Engaged Learning (E2L), and the Office of International Education (OIE) about resources and opportunities that will enhance their academic journeys at Georgia Tech. 

Speakers rotated through eight tables where they had eight minutes to pitch their programs to students. Students took notes and asked questions about exploratory advisement, undergraduate research opportunities, study abroad, community-based learning, co-ops and internships, tutoring and academic support, and student innovation and entrepreneurship. 

The event left students with a strong understanding of experiential programs offered by the Office of Undergraduate Education and Student Success (OUESS) and the Office of International Education (OIE) and how they can get involved. For more information on all programs, visit the OUESS website and the OIE website.

The Office of Experiential and Engaged Learning (E2L) and the Career Center proudly congratulate Said Gomez on being selected as the recipient of the prestigious Jack Mangham Experiential Learning Award.

Presented annually by the Georgia Association of Colleges & Employers (GACE), this award honors students across the state who exemplify the core values of experiential learning: strong work ethic, academic excellence, and good citizenship. Nominees are put forward by career services professionals and employers statewide. As this year’s awardee, Said was recognized throughout Georgia and received a monetary gift in honor of his achievement.

Said graduated in May 2025 with a degree in Business Administration. He was a founding member of the Co-op and Internship Student Ambassador Program and later served as the lead ambassador. In this role, he mentored peers, facilitated career development workshops, and collaborated with campus partners to expand opportunities for students. His strong communication skills, supportive leadership, and dedication to student success have had a lasting impact on both his peers and the program.

In his nomination essay, Said reflected on how his involvement as a Student Ambassador influenced his internship at Amazon Web Services (AWS) in Summer 2024:

“The impact of my work with the Co-op and Internship Student Ambassador team became even more evident during my Summer 2024 internship as a Partner Sales Intern at Amazon Web Services (AWS). My experience at AWS reinforced the core principles I learned at the Career Center – empowering others to achieve their goals and providing them with the resources they need to succeed. At AWS, I advanced five stalled partner opportunities, generating $1.14 million in potential revenue, and identified over 1,000 prospects, securing 13 meetings from dormant accounts. This experience, combined with my work at the Career Center, solidified my decision to return to AWS full-time as an Associate Account Executive after graduation. It also reinforced my belief that even as a student or intern, I can make a real difference.”

The Office of Experiential and Engaged Learning and the Career Center are incredibly proud of Said and all he has accomplished. Please join us in celebrating this outstanding achievement!

We are pleased to announce that Madeline Oliff has joined the Office of Experiential and Engaged Learning as Program and Operations Manager. In this role, Madeline will support community-based learning programs to expand opportunities across the Institute. She will develop new partnerships and manage existing ones that foster collaborative problem-solving with neighboring communities.

Madeline most recently oversaw Program and Business Development for the Student Industry Fellows Program, a signature fellowship of the Office of Experiential Learning at the University of Georgia. Prior to her transition to higher education, she worked in economic and workforce development organizations. 

Madeline recently graduated with her Masters in Public Administration from the University of Georgia. She received her B.A. in Sociology and American Studies from Tufts University, where she served as a board member and student teacher for the experiential learning division, the Experimental College.

Outside of work, you can find Madeline exploring Atlanta’s biking trails, getting creative through her stained glass, or in the kitchen attempting to reach her goal of trying one new recipe a week in 2025!

Please join us in welcoming Madeline to E2L and OUESS!

We’re pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Josh McConnell Parsons as the Interim Director of Undergraduate Analytics and Planning. In his capacity as Interim Director, Dr. Parsons will join the OUESS Leadership Team, where he will support the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Student Success (VPUESS) in advancing the mission of the Office of Undergraduate Education and Student Success (OUESS) and the Institute Strategic Plan (ISP).

Furthermore, he will undertake additional strategic responsibilities within the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Student Success (OVPUESS). These responsibilities may include contributing to the development and monitoring of strategic alignment work plans and addressing the analytics and assessment needs of the division. 

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Parsons on his interim appointment. He has demonstrated exceptional performance as Assistant Director of Assessment, and we look forward to his continued leadership and contributions in his expanded role as Interim Director of Undergraduate Analytics and Planning. 

The 2025 Academic Advising Network Best Practices Conference was a vibrant gathering of over 200 academic advising professionals from 19 institutions across Georgia. Held at the historic Academy of Medicine on the campus of Georgia Tech, the event provided a dynamic space for collaboration, innovation, and professional development in the field of academic advising.

We are pleased to announce that Chad Slieper will assume the role of Faculty Director of Georgia Tech’s Leaders in Progress and Service Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP). 

Chad joined the Office of Undergraduate Education and Student Success (OUESS) in 2024 as Faculty Co-Director of the Leaders in Progress and Service QEP during its development and planning phase.  In this role, he co-led the development efforts for the QEP and the successful presentation of the plan at Georgia Tech’s site visit from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) in April 2024 as part of the Institute’s reaffirmation of accreditation.   

In his new role, Chad will assume lead responsibility for the new Leaders in Progress and Service Program as it is implemented across campus. His role will include managing strategic partnerships for the Program both internally and externally, collaborating with faculty leadership to develop the Program’s curricular efforts, supervising Program faculty and staff, and leading the overall direction of the Program.

Chad holds a Juris Doctor from Emory University School of Law and earned a Bachelor of Science in Public Policy with highest honor from Georgia Tech. He joined the Georgia Tech faculty in 2019 as Director of the Law, Science, and Technology Program in the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy. Chad’s experience prior to Georgia Tech has included roles as a tenure-track faculty member at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, where he served as Chief, ad interim, of Clinical Ethics, and as the inaugural director of the Global Health Law and Policy Project at Emory University School of Law.  

Chad is an award-winning teacher in the fields of law, medical ethics, and professional ethics and identity. He received a 2022 CIOS Award, recognizing Georgia Tech’s top fifty instructors as measured by the course instructor opinion survey, and a Distinguished Teaching Award from the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. He also received the 2013 Outstanding Alumni Award of the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy. 

Please join us in congratulating Chad on his appointment as Faculty Director of the Leaders in Progress and Service Quality Enhancement Plan.

This spring, Georgia Tech marked an exciting milestone for its global learning initiatives: the graduation of the first cohort of students who began their college journey through the First-Year Semester Abroad (FYSA) program. 

Launched in 2021, FYSA offers incoming first-year students the opportunity to spend their fall semester abroad at the start of their college career. Students begin with a short summer session in Atlanta before heading to one of two destinations: FYSA @ GTE, at Georgia Tech-Europe in Metz, France, or FYSA @ Oxford, based at a college of the University of Oxford in England with additional travel across Europe. They return to the Atlanta campus for spring semester, continuing their studies with a strong foundation in independence and global awareness. 

On June 4, Undergraduate Transition Seminars (UTS) welcomed over 100 GT 1000 and GT 2000 instructors, plus supporting campus partners, to the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center for its annual professional development conference. This full day event focused on community-building, resource awareness, and pedagogical preparation for the upcoming academic year. 

We are pleased to announce that Monique Morris has been promoted to Program and Operations Manager for the Specialized Advising team in Academic Success and Advising. In this role, Monique will support her colleagues in Specialized Advising by coordinating events and liaising with the OUESS administrative team to ensure best practices within OUESS operational systems, and she will take on additional leadership for Georgia Tech’s Letters of Evaluation service. 

Monique has held a variety of roles since her arrival at Georgia Tech as a Tech Temp in 2004. In 2006, she became a permanent staff member as a receptionist in Career Services, where she later became an Employer Relations Coordinator and then an Educational Outreach Coordinator. Among her accomplishments in career services were a proposal that led to the creation of the Hayes Conference Room in the basement of the Bill Moore Student Success Center and the management of a business etiquette dinner that doubled student participation and garnered $2000 in company sponsorships.

Since 2017, Monique has coordinated the activities of the Pre-Graduate, Pre-Health, and Prestigious Fellowships advisors, and, since 2024, she has also supported Exploratory Advising. In addition to providing support for events and financial transactions, Monique oversees the Letter of Evaluation service for students applying to health professional programs. In this capacity, she reviews more than 1000 letters each year for approximately 200 applicants to medical and other health professional schools.

A woman of many skills, Monique has worked in the past as a master cosmetologist. She earned her B.S. of Psychology at Georgia State University and has participated in Georgia Tech’s Emerging Leaders and ASPIRE Leadership programs.

Please join us in congratulating Monique!

We are pleased to announced that Dr. Christopher Dobbs is the new Director of Learning and Academic Success Initiatives. In this role, he will develop and manage academic support programs housed in Academic Success and Advising. Chris joins us from the University of Missouri, where he served as Director of the Learning Center and, prior to that, managed the institution’s early alert program.

His educational background is a blend of qualitative and quantitative fields, as he began his education in classical studies (BA, Miami University; MA, Columbia University; PhD, University of Missouri) and later developed a passion for data analytics (Certificate, Cornell University; MBA and Graduate Certificate, University of Missouri). In his teaching, he enjoys helping students consider familiar concepts in new ways, such as his University of Missouri course “Roman Love Poetry and Modern Pop Music.”

Chris wishes he could share what he does in his free time, but with two daughters under the age of three, free time mostly stays in the rear-view mirror—and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Please join us in welcoming Chris to ASA and OUESS!