Regan Braun

Achiever, Relator, Responsibility, Empathy, Learner

“The space between knowing something and not knowing it is called learning, and sometimes we need the folks around us in order to do that.”

When students come to college, they do not typically separate their identities into neat buckets – athlete, academics, student club member, etc. All their roles compete for attention at the same time. Regan Braun, Student Success Coordinator, knows this very well and leans into it. “I became an academic advisor because I believe a student’s academic journey cannot be separated from their personal and professional growth. I have a deep passion for holistic student development. I don't just want to help students pick classes, I want to help them discover who they are and what they want to achieve,” she says.

As many new advisors discover, the challenges of advising are also the rewarding parts. “What I love about being an advisor is that every student is completely unique, and no two days are ever the same. You are constantly balancing new challenges, finding solutions to problems, and helping students learn how to navigate these challenges themselves.” Regan advises students in the Health and Well-Being and Counseling and Mental Health majors as well as being the advisor for student-athletes for the college, part of her background prior to academic advising.

Though Regan is new to academic advising, just beginning her second year in the role, colleagues note she jumped in right away and is already making a difference. They note Regan’s energy and engagement right from the start. “She taught a new course in spring for students who struggled in their first semester. Those students saw a great increase in their GPA and found a new sense of belong at WVU,” Cathy Manley pointed out. Regan is already making a difference in the field of academic advising as well, as she is scheduled to present at the national NACADA conference in October.

Student transformation grounds and guides her work. Helping students grow through obstacles is something all academic advisors are very familiar with. Regan notes that her best work encapsulates what we all do with many students every semester. “My favorite part of the job is sitting down with a student and helping them piece everything together. The best moments are when students walk in feeling overwhelmed but leave with clarity and confidence that they can actually achieve their goals.”

However, Regan’s best advice to students is also good advice for advisors: “Embrace not knowing everything and ask for help early and often. The space between knowing something and not knowing it is called learning, and sometimes we need the folks around us in order to do that.”