By the time arts and communication-related students enter NorthWest Arkansas Community College, many great ideas are implemented, but the students are left with lots of questions still unanswered. For Erin Hughes, the Communication and Arts adviser, helping students steer through that uncertainty is a part of her job.
Hughes didn’t begin her career in higher education, but worked in sports medicine for about 15 years. She returned to graduate school to pursue art history in Florida, but the pandemic had other plans. So, she shifted to teaching as an adjunct instructor, moved to Arkansas, took on an enrollment adviser role, then transferred to NWACCs communication and arts division, now school.
Her career path may have been unexpected, but Hughes said that being a helper to others has been constant. For Hughes, the most rewarding thing about advising is the progress. “It’s seeing your students succeed, no matter how long it takes…seeing them actually move forward,” adding, “it can be helping a journalism student pursue opportunities on campus or guiding an art student to education programs or bachelor’s degree programs in fine arts.”
Advising is more than just helping students select classes, it’s monitoring financial aid requirements, checking the sequencing of prerequisites, and reviewing academic records to avoid delays.
There is also pressure for students to have their futures mapped out at once. Hughes encourages them to approach their career in a different way. “Don’t be afraid to seek advice or support,” she urges, “don’t feel like you have to know the whole plan for your life right now.”
Freshman broadcast journalism major Riley Smith said Hughes helped her in her second semester when she was struggling in a plant biology class. “She gave me a ton of advice, told me to go to Learning Commons, gave me tutors’ names that I could go talk to, and really just tried to sit down and figure it out with me,” Smith said. “She gave me more ways that I could actually go out and make my time in the class a little bit better.”
“She’s so personable, and she’ll sit there and joke with you, and she’ll sit there and make you feel good about yourself,” Smith said. “It feels like I’m not talking to a wall, but a nice person who wants to help me.”
Some students have expressed concern about artificial intelligence impacting creative careers, but Hughes said she sees communication fields further evolving. “AI can’t do anything that it hasn’t been taught to do…the human brain has endless creative possibilities,” she said.
Sometimes, most of her role is not obvious or visible, but Hughes said the role is “all about giving direction,” and for some students who are lost in choosing academic paths or have no clear career goals, that support can make a difference.
