Office Space: Kia Kuresman, Director of Academic Advising

The way a person decorates can say a lot about them. In the Office Space series, we go beyond the résumé and get to know York College faculty and staff members through the objects they like to keep close.

Kia Kuresman is the Director of Academic Advising at York College of Pennsylvania. She has worked in the areas of new student programs, academic support, residence life, orientation, theme-housing programs, and retention and progression efforts at eight private and public institutions. Kuresman believes in creating positive opportunities for students through collaboration and effective communication with colleagues across campus. She earned a B.S.J. in Magazine Journalism (1999), a B.A. in Psychology (1999), and an M.Ed. in College Student Personnel (2001) from Ohio University. She is currently a Ph.D. student at Morgan State University and is working on her dissertation proposal.

1. Mascots

Kuresman collected stuffed mascots from each school she has been to or worked at. It is a fun way to represent the schools that helped her along her career path and helps start conversations with students and colleagues. Her two current schools are missing from the shelf, and one school is represented by a pen holder as they did not have a mascot.

2. Baseball and Picture

When Kuresman worked as the Director of New Student Programs at Goucher College, she would take approximately 250 students to an Orioles game each year. The signed baseball and picture were gifted to her for bringing the largest group to the game that day. One of her students was interning as a photographer with the Orioles and gave her the pictures from that day on the field.

3. Eye-catching Items

Kuresman tries to put something eye-catching on each wall of her office. The items represent her own values and travels. The goal is to have something for students to look at to help disarm them the first time they are in her office. She also wants them to see a little about her before they start talking. 

4. Dining Hall Tray

Among the pennants, a dining hall tray from Kuresman’s alma mater hangs on the wall. PreCollege was the summer orientation program at Ohio University. She served as a peer advisor for undeclared students, interned with the office as a graduate student, and served as a faculty advisor for undeclared students as part of this program. She won this tray during a gift exchange at the end of the season event. It is a prized possession.

5. Outstanding First-Year Advocate Award

Kuresman was nominated and won the Outstanding First-Year Advocate award from the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition in 2011. The nomination was put together by students, faculty, administrators, and the president of the school where she worked that year. She says, “It is particularly special as the year before was a tough one for me personally and professionally. Whenever I have a bad day, I look at it to remind myself that good things come out of the hard times.”