Kelsey Olson Awarded LSU CAS Outstanding Supplemental Instructor

January 29, 2019

BATON ROUGE – LSU Biological Sciences senior, Kelsey Olson, a native of Plymouth, Massachusetts is the 2018-2019 recipient of the Saundra Yancy McGuire Outstanding Supplemental Instructor (SI) Leader Award in recognition of her service and commitment to the SI program.
 
Olson leads SI sessions for BIOL 4087 where she introduces students to biochemistry processes. She has been a SI Leader for the last four semesters at LSU.
 
“Kelsey has shown exemplary leadership during her time as a SI Leader and as a peer mentor to other SI Leaders. Her support for other leaders, professionalism in the office, passion for learning and willingness to help others makes her a natural leader amongst her peers,” said LSU CAS Supplemental Instructor Coordinator Elizabeth Taylor.
 
“Kelsey has also shown proficiency in communicating with students from diverse backgrounds and does a great job assisting students in becoming lifelong learners and scholars,” Taylor said.
 
Upon graduation, Olson plans to complete a dual MD/Ph.D. program and wants to focus on developmental biology and women’s health with a specialization in maternal/fetal medicine. She explained one of the things she most appreciates about being an SI Leader is working with the LSU CAS staff who consistently work to better the award-winning program and lead students into a bright career. 
 
 “Being a SI Leader has taught me how to lead by example and how to approach different situations. This is a skill that will be required no matter where I end up in the future. It has also taught me how to communicate with many different types of people and how to break complex information into smaller parts that are easier to understand. Being able to be a part of this program has been an incredible experience,” Olson said.
 
SI Leaders are responsible for organizing study sessions with guidance from LSU instructors to aid students in learning course material. SI Leaders are trained by LSU CAS staff on how they can best supplement courses, and have successfully completed the course they are instructing with a B letter grade or above. The LSU CAS SI program is internationally certified by the International Center for Supplemental Instruction and is one of five state university programs in the country with the three-year certification.
 
To find out more about LSU CAS Supplemental Instruction and other free academic resources, please visit http://lsu.edu/cas.

Media Contact: Amanda Rabalais
Center for Academic Success
225-578-1968
araba17@lsu.edu