'Lily works harder than any person I know. … Her dedication to improving the student experience at CU goes well beyond the college'

Lily Board, assistant dean for academic advising and student success in the College of Arts and Sciences, has won the Outstanding Advising Administrator Award from NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising (NACADA).

Recipients are honored at NACADA’s annual conference awards ceremony, scheduled to be held in Puerto Rico in October, and they receive a complimentary conference registration, recognition plaque and one-year NACADA membership.

Board, who is one of three winners, received many nomination letters from CU Boulder and Naropa University colleagues for inspiring a sense of purpose in the college’s Academic Advising Center (AAC), effectively collaborating with campus programs, improving the unit’s inclusivity, and encouraging practices that emphasize compassion and mindfulness. 

“Through effort and consensus building, she has captured the imagination of many who envision a brighter and more stable future for the AAC, the advising community and the campus as a whole,” says Megan Stephenson, who submitted one of Board’s nomination letters and is operations and business analyst for the college. 

NACADA is the globe’s largest and most regarded association for professional advisors and counselors. Begun in 1977, the organization has more than 12,000 members representing the 50 United States, Puerto Rico and several international countries.  

It created the annual Outstanding Advising Administrator Award to recognize members who advance their unit’s practices by implementing innovative approaches to advising. 

Board began as an academic advisor for CU Boulder in 2008. In 2011, she won NACADA’s Outstanding New Advisor Award shortly before becoming the director of academic advising at Naropa University. During her time at Naropa University she went on to serve as associate dean of Naropa College before returning to the College of Arts and Sciences in 2018 as the assistant dean. 

Her nominees praise her professionalism, integrity, caring and the respect she garners from peers. The letters also note her unwavering commitment to the profession of academic advising and each individual in her unit. 

“Lily works harder than any person I know. … Her dedication to improving the student experience at CU goes well beyond the college,” says Peter Freitag, who held leadership positions in the AAC between 2004 and 2016 and who also submitted one of Board’s nomination letters.  

“Her willingness to give of herself to others is unparalleled.”