Meet Academic Advisor Nicola Mare Usher
By Grace Keller and Gabriella Grondalski
Nicola Mare Usher is the newest member of the Department of Communication Academic Advising team. She has been part of the UMass community since 2016 and joined the Communication Department a year ago. She was born and raised in NYC and spent most of her life there. She attended public schools and received her Bachelor’s degree at SUNY Binghamton. While at Binghamton University, she switched majors three times before landing on Philosophy, Politics, and Law. With her degree, she went to work in Sales and Marketing for Marriott International for several years before leaving to work at NYU school of law. This shift in her career was because she wanted a lifestyle change, “I was getting older and wanting to have a better work-life balance and wanting to see what academia would be like.” At NYU, she pursued a Master’s degree in International Education while she worked with international students. After a few years at NYU, her husband received a job offer at Amherst College which is what brought her and her family to the Amherst area. Her husband is a UMass Alum and she had visited the University when she was a student, so she knew what UMass was like. After applying and being hired at UMass she worked in the school of Public Health and Health Services as a Student Success Advisor. Then she moved to the Communication Disorders major as an Academic Advisor until finally moving to the Communication Department as a Senior Academic Advisor.
She says that this semester has been challenging but there are positive things about it as well. Being face to face is easier to read someone’s expressions make connections. On Zoom, it’s harder to move away from that transactional approach in order to develop relationships. Also, like many students, she suffers from Zoom fatigue some days. Mostly she misses being around her colleagues and the Peer Advisors in the office. She also misses seeing the vibrancy of the campus. There are some practical perks in this environment such as being able to screen share with students in order to show them how to do certain things on Spire and some great upsides such as flexibility and no commute. One of her favorite experiences at UMass outside of the Communication Department is Homecoming. Her family gets to be in the alumni parade due and her daughter loves it. She enjoys listening to the band and seeing the events when there is a positive connection between the town and campus.
Some common questions she gets from students are, “Do I have to take a foreign language?” and her response is no, it’s not required but learning a foreign language can be very beneficial. The second question that she often hears is, “What can I do with a Communication Degree?” and her response is “What can’t you do with a Communication degree? You can pursue corporate, nonprofit, government, marketing, public relations, there are endless opportunities. Many students want to pursue public relations for campaign candidates.”
Her tip to students is to “make sure you are checking your email!” In the remote environment this semester it is advisors’ best way to keep in touch with students and there are so many students that miss important information. Nicola is a vibrant part of the Communication Department and holds a vital role in the Academic Advising team.