From Delta to Orem to Phoenix to Price; new academic adviser hopes to help students

This archived article was written by: Katie Felice

Utah State University Eastern has welcomed a new academic advisor to campus this semester. Jeff Cook, previous Utah State alumni, is now on staff and ready to teach college success and provide guidance to students.  
Cook attended Delta High School, Utah Valley University and later furthered his studies at Utah State University in Logan where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Marketing.
After living in Utah all of his life, Cook moved to Arizona after receiving an opportunity to work as an academic advisor at the University of Phoenix. Being originally from Utah where his family and friends are, he later decided to come back. With a job position at USUE offered to him, he decided to take up the opportunity.  
“I got some experience working for the University of Phoenix… Since I went to Utah State, I thought it would be fun to work for them and the Eastern extension,” Cook said.
As far as how tough it is to move to a new town, Cook says, “I have moved a lot, the transition is not difficult.” The hardest part is, “adapting to a new place and learning the culture of this area.”
Having never before been to USUE, one of Cook’s first impressions of the school and Price as a whole that he found shocking was that for such a small town, it is a pretty big campus.
If the people here could know just one thing about Cook, he would want everyone to know, “I am fun and hope people will take my class.” Another fact about him would be that he likes business and enjoys keeping up on articles of business and topics in the business field.
Something Cook likes most is athletics. He has enjoyed watching the basketball team and attending their games this semester and looks forward to watching soccer when the season comes.
Cook has two main goals to accomplish in the future. Those goals being to get started in the MBA program or to get his second bachelor’s degree in MIS (Managing Information Systems). Although he has not decided yet which one he is going to go for first.
When the fall semester arises, Cook will be teaching a college success course where, because of his interest in business, he hopes to get creative with his teaching approach. He plans to implement the ideas he has learned from instructors and experiences and apply that when teaching the curriculum.
In the position of an academic advisor Cook says, “What is rewarding is knowing students have someone to get advice from. You get to see the different types of students and where they are going in life and then go on to see them graduate.”
With Cook now added to the advising staff, there are four academic advisors to give more opportunities for one-on-one student advising and more availability. Student’s utilizing their opportunity to receive academic help and advice is something Cook finds important. “It is important to meet with your advisors at least once a semester and make sure you have a plan.” As well as offering guidance with classes and future plans, Cook is also willing to proofread student’s resumes and help critique them.
When Cook first moved here, he read a book called “Becoming a Learner” by Mathew L. Sanders, who is a professor at USU.  “Now as an advisor, this is something I wish I would have read when I was first starting school,” he says. “It would have changed my whole mind set of how I studied and how I prepared for classes.” He encourages all of the students at Eastern to read it.