Executive Profile

Shelly Kovacs, director of the Office of Student Services in the School of Kinesiology, University of Michigan When Shelly Kovacs went to a homecoming event on Oct. 15 at the University of Michigan’s Michigan League, she had no idea that her friends, family and co-workers had been keeping a secret for weeks and even months. On that night, officials from the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology announced that an endowed scholarship had been named after Kovacs, who is director of the Office of Student Services in the School of Kinesiology. (See a short video of the presentation on YouTube.) “The most amazing thing about the scholarship is that most people don’t have the opportunity for recognition and appreciation in their lifetime,” Kovacs said. “Most people have to retire or die to receive such a special honor.” To the co-workers and formers students who nominated her for the honor, though, it seemed natural. University officials estimate that Kovacs has touched the life of at least 80 percent of students in the kinesiology programs and in the School of Education, where she worked before coming to the School of Kinesiology. Kovacs said she attended the University of Michigan and worked an internship there before she started as an advisor in the School of Education. From that early role, she worked her way up to senior advisor, then assistant director. She also took on a part-time role in development and fundraising for the university, eventually becoming director of the School of Kinesiology when it was restructured to be separate from the School of Education. “I never intended to stay, but I never left. Clearly I love what I do so much,” she said. “Every summer, the students graduate, and I’m sad to see them go. Then the new students come, and I’m excited and invigorated for the opportunity to impact the lives of all the newbies.” She said she was initially “resistant” to being named a director, because she felt she would miss working directly with students. She said the dean convinced her that her impact as director could be terrific, because she’d be mentoring the staff that worked directly with students. To keep current with student affairs and concerns, Kovacs still keeps small advising load. She said the biggest challenge right now in student services is “providing career services in a tight economy.” “Students are very concerned about getting into graduate school and finding jobs after graduate school,” she said. “Part of our mission is to help them develop skills and make them as competitive as possible.” She named electronic communication as both a boon and a challenge, saying she and the staff talk about whether new technologies, such as texting, are appropriate for use in advising students. “For example, there’s a sort of diminishing return benefit to email, because now students are inundated with it,” she said. “My rule of thumb with students has been that they can email me three times, but the fourth time, I need to see them face to face.” Kovacs said that important interactions tend to happen in person, not on email. She added that “the most important advising discussions are often not planned, but evolve out discussions about other things.” Kovacs said she felt honored to not only have the scholarship for undergraduates named after her, but also to find that the scholarship fund already had nearly $150,000 in it less than two months after the announcement of its establishment. “I love what I do and I feel very lucky to have had the opportunities I’ve had in my professional life,” Kovacs said....

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