About Us

Our Mission

The primary mission of the Academic Coaching & Educational Standards department is to promote students’ academic success and assist those experiencing academic difficulty. When students fall below the 2.0 GPA standard as outlined in UVU policy, we help them become active and independent learners through increasing self-awareness, developing skills, and accessing resources.

Our department oversees UVU Policy 521: Undergraduate Academic Standards, which includes the requirement to maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher to remain in Good Standing.

When students fall below the cumulative GPA of 2.0 for the second consecutive semester, our programs and services aim to bring them back on course toward academic success and graduation. Therefore, we primarily work with students on Continued Probation and varying levels of Suspension or Dismissal. Our goal is to understand students' challenges so we can help them succeed.

Though Financial Aid is also affected by Academic Standing, our office does not handle those issues. You can learn more about Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) here.

For more information, reminders, and support, follow us on Instagram!

Our Team

dyan

Dyan Gordon, Administrative Assistant

Supportive Mindset:I am 100% a true extrovert. I love to interact and connect with new people, and find ways to create lasting friendships. I think that is one of the reasons why I enjoy being an Administrative Professional. I have the chance to talk to new and interesting people every day, and I love being able to help them and hopefully make small, yet powerful changes in their lives. Being part of Academic Standards allows me to do just that. My team members and the students at UVU are one of  the many reasons as to why I LOVE my job!

Higher Education Background

  • Bachelor's - Family Science, Utah Valley University 
  • Associate's - Early Childhood Development, Southern Utah University

Interests and Hobbies

  • Listening to Music & Dancing (I have a wide selection of music that I enjoy listening to)
  • Attending Movies (I promise it's not all about the kettle corn.) 
  • Theater (enjoy attending plays at the Hale Center Theater, and heading to Vegas for concerts and other performances.) 
  • Travel (as long as it is not in a car.  Put me on an airplane any day.)
  • Being outside and enjoying Nature. (Preferably during the Spring & Fall seasons.)
  • Scrapbooking (which I am way behind in, but will catch up one of  these days.)
  • Holidays spent with friends and family
  • Being a Grandma.  (My grandson is so cute. He seriously brings me so much joy.)
  • Love, Love, Love sitting in my house, wrapped up in a blanket with the lights off during a rainstorm. 

Life-Defining Moments in Higher Education

  • Being a nontraditional student and coming back to finish my degree as an adult learner was such a great sense of accomplishment. School is hard, but not as hard as I had told myself it was going to be. It is NEVER too late to accomplish things that you really want to do. 

While in College, I Experienced...

  • A lack of direction in choosing a major. I did not know what I wanted to do. 
  • Poor Study Skills & Time Management. I thought my social life was far more important than my education. 
  • I struggled with learning and understanding math concepts. I was told that I had math anxiety, which I allowed it to define me and made me think that I would never be able to do math. Returning to school as an adult & non traditional student, I quickly learned that I could understand and actually do math. I wish I would have learned that years earlier.  

     

emily

Emily Argyle, Counselor & Coach

Schedule an Appointment with Emily

Coaching Mindset:Coaching engages us in a creative process with the goal to inspire action and maximize personal potential. I believe we each have unlimited capacity for growth and learning, no matter our challenges and social locations. 

Higher Education Background

  • Master's - Educational Psychology, CUNY Brooklyn College
  • Bachelor's - English, University of Utah

Interests and Hobbies

  • Home Chef
  • Visual Arts
  • Gardening

Life-Defining Moments in Higher Education

  • Death of an immediate family member my Freshman year.
  • Learning that my path wasn't something I chose but something I created. 
  • Taking an out-of-state internship, away fromNew York.
  • Leveraging my training to form an LLC and change my career trajectory. 

While in College, I Experienced...

  • Balancing work and school.
  • Financial stress.
  • Unstable living arrangements and constant moving.
  • Depression and anxiety.
  • Not having a sense of belonging.
  • Under-developed sense of identity. 
  • Academic motivation challenges.
  • Overcoming daily challenges through resiliency.

 

gioey

Gioey Alisa, Counselor & Coach

Schedule an Appointment with Gioey

Coaching Mindset:Everyone is "naturally creative, resourceful, and whole." I'm here to ask you questions that help you tap into your strengths to create plans for academic success. I'll listen to you, help you figure out solutions to problems you face in college, give you helpful guidance and referral to resources you might need, encourage you, and celebrate your successes.

Higher Education Background

  • Master's - Public Administration
  • Bachelor's - International Cultural Studies/Humanities

Interests and Hobbies

  • Baking and eating brownies
  • Growing a plum tree
  • Backyard chickens
  • Reading- especially fan fiction
  • Going on walks (may be related to brownie habit listed above) 

Life-Defining Moments in Higher Education

  • Finding myself on academic probation after my first semester in college.
  • Transferring to a college that required I meet with my academic advisor to talk about classes and degree requirements.
  • Realizing I wasn't going to pass classes unless I read the material, attended class, completed assignments, and studied for tests.
  • Moving to Hawaii to go to college in the 1990s (no cell phones, computers were relatively new) and forcing myself into a really isolated situation that necessitated self-reliance and growth.
  • Getting a grant from my university that allowed me to attend a worldwide education conference.
  • Making lifelong friends and having the best time with them while also working on degrees.
  • Taking on leadership positions.

While in College, I Experienced...

  • Having to work while attending school.
  • Financial stress.
  • Not having any friends and being incredibly lonely at my first college.
  • Being a first-generation college student.
  • Struggling to motivate myself to go to my general education classes.
  • Not quitting after my first semester, when I thought I might not be smart enough for college.
  • Walking/catching rides everywhere because I didn't have a car. 

     

kristen

Kristen Nuesmeyer, ACC, Director & Coach

Schedule an Appointment with Kristen

Coaching Mindset:I genuinely believe my students have within themselves the knowledge, resources, and power to meet their potential. I meet students wherever they are in their journey, to help them identify their value, purpose and contributions as human beings, and identify the ways in which they can best find their own success. 

Higher Education Background

  • Master's - Education - Student Development Administration 
  • Bachelor's - English Literature, University of Puget Sound

Interests and Hobbies

  • Reading
  • Seattle Sports (Mariners, Kracken)
  • Marvel Cinematic Universe

Life-Defining Moments in Higher Education

  • Going out of state to college and being incredibly homesick.
  • Last minute change of career my senior year of Bachelor Degree.
  • Participating in college music ensembles.
  • Taking an unexpected internship and found something I loved.

While in College, I Experienced...

  • Independence.
  • Strained relationships with my parents.
  • Religious exploration and questioning.
  • First-generation understanding of meaning of college degree.
  • Juggling work and school.
  • Depression and Anxiety.

     

lisa

Lisa Williamson, Counselor & Coach

Schedule an Appointment with Lisa

Coaching Mindset: Coaching is all about relationships. As co-collaborators, I work with students to create a space for discovery, awareness, choice, clarity, action, and transformation. Watching students recover academically and reach their goals is the best part of my job!

Higher Education Background

  • Master's - Education; Adult Learning, Westminster College
  • Bachelor's - English Literature, Utah Valley University

Interests and Hobbies

  • Thrifting & re-selling
  • Documentaries
  • Yoga
  • Wilderness wandering

Life-Defining Moments in Higher Education

  • Rewriting my “I’m not smart enough for college” internal script.
  • Finding faculty mentors.
  • Presenting a research paper at a national undergraduate literature conference.
  • Being hired by my grad school professor to do research.

While in College, I Experienced...

  • Balancing school and athletics.
  • Being a first-generation college student.
  • Changing my major 6 times.
  • Not having the confidence to choose the major I really wanted.
  • Leaving school at 21 to get married.
  • Completed my Associate’s at 28, my Bachelor’s at 43, and my Master’s at 48.

     

marianna

Marianna Henry, ACC, Counselor & Coach

Schedule an Appoinment with Marianna

Coaching Mindset:It's important for me to create an environment of belonging, authenticity, open-mindedness, accessibility, and inclusion. Coaching is a collaborative effort, a partnership which requires non-judgment, trust, communication, and empathy. Every background, character, strength, and story is different – there is no one-size-fits-all approach. I love helping clients, students, teams, and organizations implement a strengths-based mindset and culture.

Higher Education Background

  • Master's - Social Entrepreneurship: Sociology, Nonprofit Leadership
  • Bachelor's - Communication: Public Relations

Interests and Hobbies

  • Singing (Former Theatre Kid)
  • Planning Travel and Doing the Traveling
  • Digital Design
  • Handcrafting Skincare Products
  • Halloween Vibes Forever

Life-Defining Moments in Higher Education

  • Failing an entire semester because I stopped attending classes, which resulted in recognizing and diagnosing my anxiety and taking much more accountability for my college career.
  • "Aha moment" when I realized some of my peers in musical theatre really, really wanted this future, but I didn't. (They're on Broadway now - this tracks.)

While in College, I Experienced...

  • Lack of guidance as a first-gen student.
  • Onset of panic attacks and anxiety.
  • Uncertainty about my major and career path, along with multiple major changes.
  • Two traumatic events: sudden illness and death of an immediate family member, and a major car accident.
  • Undergrad: Getting married, transferring to an out-of-state university, and starting a new chapter in Utah!
  • Grad school: Working full time while pregnant, having a baby, and developing chronic migraines.