By Lenore Devore, B.S. Journalism 1984

Online Academic Advisor Chanelle Cox’s military parents instilled in her a piece of advice that she thinks led to her being named CJC Professional Adviser of the Year in 2024: If you do good work, it will be noticed.

“I’m typically a super introverted, shy person,” said Cox, who helped first- and second-year online students with their academic degree requirements and future career goals when she won the award but now advises all online students. “My supervisor, [former Associate Dean for Undergraduate Affairs] James Babanikos, took notice of the work I was doing and encouraged me to apply for the award. So I did when I otherwise wouldn’t have. In the course of filling out the application, I felt my approach to advising was special. I hadn’t thought that way prior to doing the application. In my mind, I was doing what I would expect of any adviser.”

She said she approaches students with empathy to meet them where they are, teaching them about their academic programs so they understand not only which courses are needed for their degrees but why they are taking them. She explains how they can leverage university resources and intentionally shape their experiences in school to be more aligned with the career pathways they envision for themselves post-graduation.

“All advisers have different advising philosophies. My philosophy is to try to give students as much information as I can about their programs so they are confident as to what they need to take and how those courses fit into the context of their degrees, and also to help them connect to resources to overcome any barriers they may be experiencing along the way.”

Cox said she likes to empower students to use their autonomy to shape the experiences that are uniquely theirs. 

“The way I am treating each student is as experts of their lives,” Cox said. “But I’m also here to mentor them and show them what they are capable of, stepping aside in those integral moments where they get to choose which direction their future ultimately takes.”

Innovative ideas also likely led to the advising award. When she arrived at CJC from a similar role at the much smaller University of Tampa (UT), she was an adviser in the PaCE – Pathway to Campus Enrollment – program. PaCE is a hybrid program where new students initially take classes online, then transition to campus in their junior year to complete their bachelor’s degree in-person. At CJC, she designed and led PaCE webinars for newly admitted students and their families to discuss how the PaCE program operates, which resources students can access, helpful strategies for being successful in the program and more. 

Cox credits the University of Tampa for setting her up for success. She took classes with as few as six students and as many as 50. She received her bachelor’s in philosophy in 2014 and Master’s in Business Administration in 2020. “I benefited from having incredible faculty who took the time to mentor me and check in on my wellbeing. I wasn’t treated as a number – it was a student experience I carry with me always, and I try to do the same for my students here at UF.”

Cox learns from the students she advises. At UT, she mostly worked with graduate students in health professions who are very organized and communicative with clear career trajectories and therefore didn’t need as much advising. 

“Working with undergraduate students at UF has been eye-opening for me. They’re very diverse, high-functioning students, but they are generally young relative to graduate students and they’re actively discovering who they are and what they might want to do in life. So I get to see a lot of variety in their perspectives, communication styles and different life experiences,” Cox said. “Some work part or full time. Some may have experienced difficult circumstances like loss of housing, medical or financial hardships, loss of a parent. These conversations have been challenging but insightful for me. I can appreciate the unique circumstances they are going through and what this program means to them. It’s humbling to work with everyone, to see how much they persevere to get through this program and build a brighter future.”