Sally Garner is the Senior Director for Student Success for the SOJC's undergraduate program. She works with faculty, staff and a team of award-winning advisors to recruit, retain, advance and graduate approximately 2,200 undergraduate students.

Sally’s “Team Advising” office was a certificate of merit recipient of the 2014 NACADA Outstanding Advising Program award. When Sally took the helm in 2000, she started the office’s transition to a fully hybrid academic and career student services center. The hybrid mission is based on a premise that student development and academic goal-setting are interlinked with career development and career goals. To serve one without the other is incongruent with a holistic approach to student services. The team now routinely present at regional and global conferences on the integration of career and academic advising.

Sally has served in a variety of leadership positions for NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising, including Region 8 chair, Region 8 communications coordinator and Oregon state liaison. She has also been a NACADA Emerging Leader Program mentor, having graduated from the program as a “mentee” in 2013. She presents regularly at regional and global conferences. In 2017, Sally was twice recognized as an outstanding advising administrator by NACADA, first at the regional level in March, and again at the more competitive association level in October.

Throughout her tenure at Oregon, Sally and her team have tried different strategies for promoting student success, including advising podcasts, aggressive outreach programs, and “fly by” efforts to bring advising to students where they are: in the classroom, in the residence halls, in their student groups, etc.

Sally has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Oregon and a Master of Education from Oregon State University. In her free time, she enjoys binge-watching one version of Star Trek or another, baking and taking walks with her husband and their corgis, Carson, Poe and Finn.

EdM, Oregon State University, 2007
BA, University of Oregon, 1998

2023: Ep. 56 Advising with a Caring Curiosity (Adventures in Advising Podcast)

2023: Hiring in Higher Education: An Insiders Panel (Oregon Academic Advising Association Virtual Conference)

2021: Integrating Career and Academic Advising: Lessons from the field (NACADA Pre-Conference Week – Two-hour pre-conference workshop)

2020: Two presentations were accepted but the conferences were cancelled due to COVID-19.

2019: Peace and Long Life (as an Academic Advisor): Using Career Development as Professional Self-Care (NACADA Region 8)

2019: Leadership Stories: Shaping the Future of NACADA (NACADA Region 8)

2018: Becoming the Future of Advising: Diversity in NACADA Leadership (NACADA Region 8)

2017: Keynote speaker: Integration and Collaboration: Connecting Career Exploration and Academic Advising (British Columbia Advising Symposium)

2017: Keynote speaker: Fostering a Culture of Innovation (Oregon Academic Advising Association)

2016: #IAmAcAdv: Branding Yourself for the Job Market (NACADA Region 8)

2014: Career Development: The Missing Piece in Holistic Advising (NACADA Region 8 – Two-hour pre-conference workshop with Miranda Atkinson and Rachel Allen) and Creating a Professional Development Plan for Advisors (Oregon State University “Coffee Talk” professional development meeting)

2013: Charging Forward with your Charge (NACADA Region 8 – Two-hour pre-conference workshop)

2012: #AdvTech Virtual Brown Bag – Advising Reflections & Sharing: Blogging to Support Our Profession & Student Learning Outcomes – Panel with Jason Barkmeyer (University of Utah) & Becca Schulze (University of Oregon)

2011: Let’s TALK: Building a campus community, one story at a time (NACADA Region 8)

2010: Podcasts as an Advisor’s Tool: Record it once, it’s answered forever (NACADA Region 8) and Advising Podcasts: Not just buzz, lightyears ahead (NACADA Annual Conference; with Clay Schwenn – University of Washington)

2009: Absorbing Transfer Shock: Utilizing specialized support to counter transfer student challenges (NACADA Region 8 and NACADA Annual Conference; with Terrie Minner – University of Oregon) *Voted Best of Region*

2017 NACADA Outstanding Advising Administrator Award
2017 NACADA Region 8 Excellence in Advising – Advising Administrator Award
2014 NACADA Outstanding Advising Program – Certificate of Merit
2013 NACADA Emerging Leaders Program – program completion certificate
2013 NACADA Academic Advising Administrators’ Institute – program completion certificate

Service

2022-2024 NACADA Finance Committee Chair
2022 NACADA Annual Conference Planning Committee
2021-2023 NACADA Speakers Bureau Advisory Board
2020-2022 NACADA Finance Committee
2018-present NACADA Speakers Bureau
2017-2019 NACADA Emerging Leaders Program Advisory Board
2016-2018 NACADA Emerging Leaders Program – Mentor
2014-2016 NACADA Region 8 Past Region Chair
2012-2014 NACADA Region 8 Chair
2012-2014 NACADA Academic Advising Today Reviewer
2011-2013 NACADA Emerging Leaders Program
2009-2012 NACADA Region 8 Steering Committee