Student Services and Advising

Senior academic adviser and program director, Josh has been advising University students for 20 years, 10 years in individually designed degree programs. His educational background, a B.A. in English literature, an M.A. in creative writing/editing, and a Ph. D. in American Studies, has emphasized interdisciplinary study and the use of personal writing to foster both educational development and curricular coherence.

Amy serves as assistant department director and associate academic adviser in the Student Services and Advising Unit of the College of Continuing Education. She works with students in the Inter-College Program. Amy's professional experience outside of the U of M includes working with individuals who receive public assistance at a local nonprofit agency, serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Bulgaria, and working in the private sector in Chicago for the consulting industry doing change management and human resources-related work.

Senior academic adviser, Bob has advised and instructed students at the University of Minnesota for the past 14 years, 10 years in individualized education. He earned B.A. and M.A. degrees in cultural anthropology, and M.S. and Ph. D. degrees in continuing and adult education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has taught courses in anthropology, American Indian studies, and recreation and leisure education at the University of Wisconsin and courses in American Indian studies at the University of Minnesota. Areas of academic interest include American Indians of the western Great Lakes, the anthropology of everyday life, leisure learning and education, and ethnographic research focusing on social leisure traditions. Besides advising and teaching, he has worked in a variety of university contexts including Upward Bound, an internship office, human relations program, and the programming board of a student union.

Karolyn graduated with a B.A. in English from Wayne State University in Detroit, her hometown. She regrets not double-majoring in art, but continues to draw and paint. She received her M.F.A. in creative writing at Indiana University-Bloomington, and has numerous poems published. She belongs to the Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment, and enjoys cooking, gardening, hiking, and the movies. Her favorite films range from Monty Python and the Holy Grail to Brokeback Mountain and her favorite poem is Wislawa Szymborska's "The Kindness of the Blind." She is also interested in Jungian and transpersonal psychology, nature writing, and the photography of the West. Her favorite trip was to the Grand Canyon, a very expansive place. One of her ancestors was a famous botanical painter, Pierre Joseph Redoute, known for his roses. You will find copies of his prints on her office walls.

Karen has a 22- year history at the University of Minnesota, with eight years in student advising. While working in the College of Liberal Arts, she completed a B.A. in art history, with a focus on issues of identity and patronage for contemporary Native American artists. More recently, while serving as an adviser to social work students, she continued to explore her interest in the iconography/social construction of race through a Master of Liberal Studies degree. She loves travel, yoga, and photography. A lifelong gardener, her interest in plants has currently led her to explore their medicinal application through a course of study with a local, registered herbalist.

Bachelor of Applied Science

Phil, a North Dakota native, has a B.A. degree from Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota, with a major in political science and minor in history. He has been an academic adviser for the College of Continuing Education for 22 years. He is an avid sports fan including Gopher football, Gopher women's and men's basketball and the Minnesota Twins. Also a lover of music, especially classical music, he and his wife Barb attend the Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra regularly. Other interests include travel, movies, and politics. He has two daughters and four grandsons.

Megan has been an adviser at the University of Minnesota for the past five years, first working with transfer students in CLA and now advising Construction Management and Information Technology Infrastructure students in the College of Continuing Education.. She earned a B.A. in psychology from the University of Northern Iowa and a M.A. in counseling psychology from the University of St. Thomas. In her spare time she enjoys reading fiction, traveling and spending time with her husband Jake and her yellow lab, Dorothy.

Program for Individualized Learning

Senior academic adviser and program director, Josh Borowicz, Ph. D., has been advising University students for 20 years, 10 years in individually designed degree programs. His educational background, a B.A. in English literature, an M.A. in creative writing/editing, and a Ph. D. in American Studies, has emphasized interdisciplinary study and the use of personal writing to foster both educational development and curricular coherence.

Senior academic adviser JoAnn M. Hanson, Ph. D., has a background in the social sciences, adult development and learning, program development and evaluation, social and immigration history, and museum studies. She has taught courses at the University of Minnesota, University of St. Thomas, Hamline University, Capella University, Minnesota Extension Service, and Metropolitan State University.

Photo of Greg Layden Associate Academic Advisor Greg Laden, M.A., Ph.D., is an anthropologist who has worked mainly in Africa, and an influential science blogger. He has taught at Harvard, Boston University, the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, Concordia, the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities) and elsewhere. His B.A. is from New York State’s analog to the PIL program. Although he is new to the advising staff, he has been involved with PIL as a faculty advisor and a member of the Senate Oversight Committee for Individualized Degrees for several years. Greg is involved, as a writer and activist, in advancing K-12 science education, and issues of race and racism both in the classroom and across society.

Non-admitted students

Amy (AJ) Burger Sanchez is the academic adviser for the College's non-admitted student population, as well as for students in the Program in Translating and Interpreting. She has been with the College of Continuing Education since 2003 and has been working in student services and advising since 1999, both in the U.S. and in Mexico. Amy is currently completing the University of Minnesota's M.A. in educational policy and administration in the international education track. She also has an educational background in Spanish secondary education and socio-cultural studies. Her current academic areas of interest include multicultural identity development, intercultural communication, and access to education. Amy, also known as AJ, especially enjoys working with diverse student populations, which makes the College an excellent professional home for her.

Advising Staff

Inter-College Program

Bachelor of Applied Science

Program for Individualized Learning

Non-admitted students