Fall 2018 Spotlight Award Recipient

Allyson Gardner

Coordinator for Academic Support Services, Learning Center

How did you end up at UNT?

I first started at UNT 8 years ago.  I had been working in the world of private tutoring.  The company I worked for was hit hard by the recession and eventually had to close.  I began looking for jobs and came across a position in the Learning Center that involved working with several different programs, one being tutoring.  It seemed like a perfect fit for me and my passions and I was excited to work at UNT as I had done my master’s here in Special Education and my husband and I had recently moved to Denton because Denton is an awesome town.

Have you won any awards or had and recognitions while at UNT that you are proud of?

My first year at the Learning Center I won Outstanding New Staff Member for Undergraduate Studies for the 2010-2011 year.  My first year as a Teaching Fellow in Educational Psychology I won the Outstanding Teaching Fellow in Educational Psychology Award at the 2014 Honors Day.

What do you do at UNT?

I am the Coordinator for Academic Support Services at the Learning Center.  I primarily oversee our peer Academic Coaching program, our pre-graduate services (a GRE prep course and workshop on getting into grad school), and our graduate student services (graduate academic coaching and tutoring).  I supervise an amazing team of undergraduate Academic Coaches, a fantastic Graduate Assistant, and a super Graduate Academic Coach.  I also provide some graduate level statistics tutoring myself as it is something our students need and something I love to do.

What is your favorite part of working at UNT?

There are a lot of things that have made me happy to come to work at UNT each day these past 8 years.  My co-workers would probably say it’s the Starbucks right across from our office.  I do love my Starbucks, but I think the thing that has been consistently wonderful in my time here at UNT is the people.  I love the people here at UNT; the students, the staff, and the faculty.  The students I have gotten to work with and my co-workers are genuinely awesome humans and I am happy to spend many hours each week with them.  They make coming to work each day a joy.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

This is a hard question.  I have three kids age three and under, so there’s not really such a thing as spare time.  When I am not at work I am usually spending time with my family.  I do love birdwatching and my 22 month old and 3 year old try to participate with me which is quite amusing to watch.  I also LOVE games and trivia, so we play a lot of games as a family.  For just me time I do like to read or watch tv.