12/10/13 td/kb
Two student affairs publications at Fort Hays State University have won national awards for usefulness and innovation.

The university received the 2013 Outstanding Advising Technology Innovation Award through the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA, pronounced nuh-KAH-duh) for its TigerCentral Online Advising Notes. TigerCentral was created through a collaboration between the Web Development Task Force (now the Enterprise Leadership Team) and the University Academic Advising Committee.

University advisors use TigerCentral in place of a paper filing system for information regarding majors and minors, enrollment and advisor information. The electronic filing system helps keep student information from getting lost or shredded. From July 2012 to June 2013, 8,707 notes have been made on TigerCentral, and because of the new innovation, all notes are safe from being misplaced or deleted.

Dr. Patricia Griffin, director of the Academic Advising and Career Exploration Center (AACE), nominated the advising notes publication and attended the NACADA annual conference to accept the award in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The FHSU New Student Success planner, given to new students at Tiger Freshman Pre-enrollment was awarded the Outstanding Orientation Handbook (Grayscale or Black & White) from the Association for Orientation, Transition and Retention in Higher Education (abbreviated as NODA, pronounced KNOW-duh).

Christine Hunziker, administrative assistant in AACE, has put the planner together since 2009. The university provides its students with the handbooks containing information regarding general university information, campus services, and policies and requirements. It also includes a campus directory and map with a coupon to the university's bookstore.

Fort Hays was announced as an award winner at the NODA annual conference in San Antonio, Texas. Brett Bruner, director of persistence and retention, submitted the planner.