Alexis Maxie, a second-year adviser with the UT Austin chapter of Advise TX,  has been named the 2021 recipient of the Laurie and Peter Grauer True North Award, the highest College Advising Corps (CAC) award for excellence in college advising exemplifying excellence in service, dedication and student success combined with consistent demonstration of the CAC values of grace and humility.

Maxie, who is an adviser at KIPP Austin Collegiate High School, was selected out of 29 outstanding advisers across the nation. She was honored at the CAC Adviser Assembly, an annual professional development conference that was held virtually this year due to the pandemic.  CAC CEO Dr. Nicole Hurd and CAC Founding Board Chair Peter Grauer presented Maxie with the award during the event, which was attended by 800+ advisers and CAC staff from across the country.

Like many advisers across the country, Maxie has been serving her high school students remotely since the start of the pandemic, She has already met with 100% of her seniors and has helped more than 90%  of them successfully submit at least one college application.

Maxie has also provided invaluable assistance to the UT Austin Advise TX program by developing and maintaining a Google timesheet system for all advisers to keep in AmeriCorps compliance. She also helped develop and execute the program’s virtual End of Year Training as well as the annual comprehensive summer training, where she took the lead in developing the agenda, PowerPoint presentations for adviser-led workshops and also served as the logistical person for all zoom meeting efforts.

Among Maxie’s many accomplishments, she was a featured adviser representing all four Advise TX CAC program spokespeople for a OneStar Foundation’s (the state service commission responsible for the AmeriCorps programs in Texas) “AmeriCorps Texas Responds” article, which described how AmeriCorps members were keeping students on track during the pandemic. Her vast knowledge of technology and effective virtual advising prompted her to be selected as the UT Austin chapter’s primary representative for the CAC OneStar Adviser Review Crew to help support the efforts of CAC’s training response during COVID-19.  In addition to her efforts to help the program, KIPP Austin Collegiate High School awarded her with their “Champions of Equity” Award last year for her efforts to advocate for her students.

More about Advise TX

Housed within the Longhorn Center for School Partnerships, Advise TX is part of the national College Advising Corps, a growing consortium of more than 30 partner institutions, including The University of Texas at Austin, around the country who have committed to recruit and train talented, enthusiastic recent college graduates to serve as college advisers within designated high schools in 17 states. The University of Texas at Austin Advise TX program is also an AmeriCorps program. For a maximum of two years, Advise TX advisers serve students in selected high- needs high schools within 13 school districts in Central Texas, Dallas, El Paso and the Rio Grande Valley. Visit the Advise TX website for more information or contact Cheryl Sawyer, Advise TX program director, at cheryls@austin.utexas.edu.