Who’s Who at VCU Business: Tanya Wineland
By Megan Nash
For Tanya Wineland, advising is an evolving craft. At the VCU School of Business, she’s transforming how students approach their futures and making every session count. As a researcher and fellow in Carnegie Mellon’s education-focused data science program, she’s asking big questions about how advising can be a force for change. But for Wineland, it all comes back to the students, who are getting a next-level experience with every conversation.
Where can we find you on the VCU map?
You can find me on the first floor of Snead Hall in the Student Success Suite (B1102) at the VCU School of Business.
Can you share a bit about your educational journey? Where did you go to school, and what was your major?
I hold a B.F.A. in theatre from VCU, an M.S. in academic advising from Kansas State University and I am currently a Ph.D. student in educational psychology at VCU.
What inspired you to pursue a career in your field, and how has your journey evolved over the years?
There was a time when I felt unfulfilled in my work, so I decided to go back to school with the intention of changing careers. I made a list of fields that interested me and kept returning to the idea of working in higher education, specifically in student or academic affairs. The thought alone triggered memories of being a first-generation college transfer student. Just remembering the support I needed as a student, and how I grappled with articulating those needs–let alone whom to tell–was enough for me to decide, “This is it. I need to somehow advise students.”
Academic advising became my goal because I enjoy learning and working with late adolescent and adult learners. Since I began advising in 2018, I have seen a reciprocal relationship grow between learning and motivation, particularly within the advising space. Sometimes, those who work in student-facing roles focus on barriers to student success. Instead of taking a deficit approach, what are the facilitators of an academically strong semester? How can they be fostered in the advising space? Finally, I decided to take my wonderings and other academic relationships through a doctoral program to produce research that advances the professionalization of academic advising.
Could you describe a current project you’re working on? What excites you most about it?
In May, I learned that my application was accepted to join the inaugural cohort of Carnegie Mellon University’s (CMU) Data Science for Education Fellows Training Program. As part of this program, I attended CMU’s LearnLab Summer School, and I will spend the remainder of the academic year working with a LearnLab mentor on an academic advising data project. I also get to take advanced courses in statistics, data science and learning engineering. What excites this nerd even more is that I get to develop an idea to produce change. Academic advisors often speak of serving as change agents, and this project extends that promise.
What’s the most unusual or interesting item on your desk or in your office that tells a story about you?
When you visit my office, I will show you where I keep a Marvel Encyclopedia. I am sure it tells a story about me, but I am more interested in hearing which superheroes or villains my advisees like. What can a student’s interest in a character’s powers or backstory tell me about what the student values?
If you were a tour guide for incoming students, what quirky fact about the campus would you share?
I would share that VCU is a Pepsi campus–then make a mental note of everyone who groans, so I can slip them a map marked with places to get a competitor’s beverage and whisper, “You have options.”
What never fails to make you smile?
Seeing or talking about animals and their shenanigans, particularly the “criminal activities” of my cats, Dragon and Nugget.
Categories News