Above and Beyond

MONMOUTH, Ill. – With an office by two hallways and an elevator in the middle section of the middle floor, Jen Braun is in the center of it all in Monmouth College’s bustling Center for Science and Business.

JEN BRAUN: The kinesiology lecturer recently received a prestigious Hatch Academic Excellence Award for service.But that prime location is only one of several reasons why the kinesiology lecturer is so popular. And it’s that popularity that led to Braun being the most recent recipient of Monmouth’s Hatch Award for Distinguished Service. Among the attributes listed by her nominator was the fact that she recently had 85 student advisees, a figure that’s fallen only slightly to 75 this fall, dozens more than the next-closest faculty member.

Above and beyond

“What is distinctive about Jen’s efforts is the sheer number of students whom she advises, both formally and informally,” wrote her nominator. “She’s not required to participate in service like our tenure-track faculty. (But) she takes on an enormous advising load and other service obligations because she cares deeply about our students and their well-being. … She alone advises more than 10% of our student body, and that doesn’t count all of the football players and other students who seek her out for informal advice.”

In fact, on the afternoon Braun was interviewed about her award, two “informal advisees,” seniors Jackson Bergren and Junior Sylvestre, were in her office.

“This is a hub,” Braun said of her office space. “I don’t know if it would be like this if I was located in some other part of the building, like the third floor.”

“Yes, it would,” said Bergren, who along with Sylvestre stayed in the office for the interview, alternating turns with a Rubik’s cube, as the 13th-year faculty member also took a phone call, trying to resolve campus life issues for a few of her students.

Monmouth’s ‘Miss Brittany’

Another reason for Braun’s popularity is the sport that Bergren plays. He’s a member of the Fighting Scots football team, which is coached by her husband, Chad Braun, and is more than 100 players strong.

“My style of advising is affected because of Chad and his schedule,” she said. “I don’t shut it down at 5, because in our house, work doesn’t stop at 5. I’ve adopted a similar philosophy and schedule to his.”

LEADING CLASS: Braun is pictured addressing a classroom full of students, but another significant portion of her time is spent in her office, advising 75 students formally and many others informally.Those looking for an on-screen model of a day in Braun’s life could tune into the 2016 Netflix docuseries, Last Chance U, and its star, Brittany Wagner, also known as “Miss Brittany” (there’s even a physical resemblance).

“She popularized this style,” said Braun of what she called “a holistic approach” to advising. “You just don’t pick classes for the students – you talk about life.”

“She is LOVED by our students, many of whom see her as their ‘campus mom.’”

Her nominator wrote, “She advocates for them, has tough love conversations with them when they’re not living up to their potential, and provides a warm, welcoming place for them to just come in and chat, especially when they’re homesick. She is LOVED by our students, many of whom see her as their ‘campus mom.’”

“To hear that is very humbling,” said Braun. “I feel like I learn as much from them as they do from me.”

Extra steps for an ‘iron’ woman

In much the same way that her husband’s football team seeks to address “the little things” to ensure success during a game, play in and play out, that’s how Braun approaches her teaching, her advising and her overall relationship with Monmouth’s students.

For example, when working with a group of Monmouth’s older alumni during the Golden Scots Celebration, she encouraged them to turn and look behind them when leaving a parking space – rather than relying exclusively on their rearview mirror – a little thing to help exercise neck muscles. Taken a step – or, rather, several steps – further, she’s created a pair of walking courses that not only improve students’ physical health, but also their mental health. Nearly 80 students enrolled in those classes the first year they were offered.

“A lot of our students are athletes, and they don’t appreciate the role of general physical activity as it relates to mental health,” said Braun. “Their physical activity comes with pressure in games and practices. I’ve had them share with me that they just appreciate getting out into nature.”

“My undergrad experience affected me. How I interact with the students now is how I interacted with the faculty at Graceland. That was the culture, and that’s how I wanted it to be when I started teaching.” – Jen Braun

Braun is not only humbled by the Hatch Award and the praise she’s received, but she also acknowledges that’s she not unique on Monmouth’s campus.

“It’s the model and culture of this place,” she said when talking about answering a student’s phone call at 9 p.m. on a Sunday. “I don’t feel like I’m alone in that. Most of the faculty here are super-caring individuals.”

It’s a philosophy she’s carried with her since her days as a student at Graceland University (she didn’t overlap with the Iowa school’s former leader, Monmouth President Pat Draves).

“My undergrad experience affected me,” she said. “How I interact with the students now is how I interacted with the faculty at Graceland. That was the culture, and that’s how I wanted it to be when I started teaching.”

And that approach has not gone unnoticed on campus.

“She has designed class assignments that asked students to survey the student body on mental health issues and made proposals to Student Life based on their findings,” said Dean of the Faculty Mark Willhardt. “She not only advises in standard ways but also hosts out-of-state students at her home for holiday meals, sets up internships for students and even helps students iron graduation gowns, in a pinch.”

OK, so maybe that last part makes her unique.

“Part of it is just being a mom,” said Braun, whose children are 21, 19, 16 and 14. “I help with the graduation gowns because I know as a mom, I wouldn’t want my own child walking across the stage in a wrinkled gown.”