Kimeta Straker is the current assistant director of advising in the Academic Center for Exploratory Students at the University of Connecticut, Storrs Campus, where she has been employed for the past 15 years.
Straker started as an academic advisor and has worked closely with undergraduates in helping them to decide on majors and/or careers.
Her area of specialty is helping students who are considered at risk – dismissed from the university or on academic probation – either to be re-admitted to or graduate from the university.
Recognizing a need for this population, Straker created and teaches a course that allows students on academic probation to learn about their individual strengths, interests and goals, along with academic skills that would lead them to academic success.
In addition to this class, she also teaches first-year students in the First Year Program and Learning Communities, and serves as a facilitator and trainer for several areas on campus.
Straker currently serves on several advisory boards and committees at the University of Connecticut and has been awarded several awards throughout her tenure at the university.
She has also presented at several of her professional organizations’ conferences, including NACADA, NASPA, and ACPA.
Straker earned a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Physiology/Athletic Training from Long Island University, Brooklyn, New York and two master’s degrees in College Student Personnel Administration from Canisius College, Buffalo, New York and Special Education from the University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut.
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
Barbados
EDUCATION:
Canisius College, Buffalo, NY and University of Connecticut, master’s degrees
OCCUPATION:
University of Connecticut, assistant director of advising
BEST QUOTE:
“If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail” – mother; “The plans may have changed, but the goals remain the same” – father; Her thought: “You have to set goals; setting goals allow you to have a purposeful life.”
FAVORITE PERSON:
“I don’t think I understand that,” she says.
