By Margaret MacKeverican
Lauren Orr most recently joins Wayne State University from the University of Pennsylvania, where she served as the Associate Director for Fellowships. During her tenure, both Penn’s Fulbright and Truman Scholarship applicant numbers increased. This is a great achievement, and Lauren hopes to work with WSU’s Fellowship Office on for WSU’s numbers, as well!
Prior to her work in Fellowships, Lauren was an undergraduate academic advisor for nine years between Columbia University and George Washington University. She is especially proud of her transfer work at Columbia where she created a transfer credit evaluation tool and launched initiatives to connect transfer students to advisors and to one another. This expertise will lend itself to our hopes of becoming a Transfer Receptive Culture at WSU. Afterall, we could always use another Transfer Champion!
So how did Lauren come to advising? After completing her bachelor’s degree in history at the University of Michigan, she knew she wanted to stay in the field of higher ed advising and was intentional about the opportunities she pursued. While completing her Master’s program in Higher Education Administration at George Washington University, Lauren worked in the Admissions Office. She didn’t really enjoy the work she was doing but was introduced to the world of advising through colleagues within the advising office at GW, which happened to be next door to her current office. Everyone there was so nice, fun, and happy. Once a job opened up over there, she applied and was selected. She describes it like “entering the promised land,” as the work was very satisfying for her. So much so, that she’s been advising in some capacity ever since – and that was around 15 years ago! I think it’s safe to say that Lauren has found her niche! Her guiding philosophy as an advisor is that being accurate, informed, and efficient must always go hand in hand with being approachable, thoughtful, and supportive. This is a great fit for us within the Department of Public Health and WSU’s advising community as a whole.
Outside of work, Lauren enjoys music, outdoor cocktails—I'm right there with you, comedy—we all could use a laugh after the last year and a half, and French fries—yum. Anyone know of a place in Metro-Detroit that combines all the above? She also enjoys exploring new places with her husband. Since she’s lived most of her adult life outside of Michigan, she’s looking forward to getting to know MI again as an adult. As a welcome back to the mitten, next time you see Lauren or chat her in Teams, share your favorite spots with her!
Welcome to WSU’s Advising Team, Lauren!