Member Spotlight: Brad Popiolek

2010-2011 ACA Public Relations Coordinator

Hometown:  Bel Air, Maryland

College(s) Attended: University of South Carolina (BA), Florida State University (MS)

Degree(s) earned:  BA – Public Relations, MS – Higher Education Administration

Title:  Assistant Academic Advisor-- School of Undergraduate Studies

Running, yoga, biking, watching college football
What are your hobbies?

What was your favorite childhood toy? Bert and Ernie

What is your current position at UT? Briefly explain: As an academic advisor in the Center for Strategic Advising I assist students through self, major, and career exploration. My main responsibility is to coordinate all aspects of the Wayfinder website, which helps students explore majors and careers.

Have you had any jobs prior to your current job at UT?  If so, what were they? Graduate Assistant in Center for Exploratory Students at FSU and NODA intern at University of North Texas.

What is the most challenging aspect of your current job? Building a wealth of content on Wayfinder – it takes time and patience to create a centralized website with lots of information for students.

Tell us about one of your success stories that happened in your current position (regarding a student, a co-worker, a project, etc.) So far, working on Wayfinder has been a very rewarding experience – although we plan to add more features and content, it has come a long way in the past two years.

Why do you feel it is important to get involved in ACA or other professional organizations? NACADA has had a tremendous impact on my career thus far. You can't operate in a silo as a student affairs professional, it's critical to engage with others across the country in order to constantly enhance your program. The networking opportunities NACADA, ACA, ACPA, etc. offer are invaluable – the people make professional development occur on a daily basis rather than once a year during a conference