Advising Director Enjoys Serving Students

Nikayla Kussatz

Director of Advising and Enrollment Nikki Peters discusses graduation with sophomore Raul Sanchez and freshman Joel Fane.

Nikayla Kussatz, Photo Editor
April 25, 2019

Nikki Peters: Mom, wife, director of advising and enrollment, Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) advisor. Any one of these roles, coupled with another, would be enough to fill a person’s calendar. That Peters juggles them all at once is impressive.

Growing up and going to school in Iola eventually led Peters to attend Allen Community College and continuing her education to receive her bachelor’s degree in business at Friends University.

After obtaining her degree, Peters worked for an insurance agency in town.

“Really, I finished my degree as a non-traditional student that had gone back to school,” said Peters. “In the middle of completing my program, my husband and I welcomed our first child. Nothing really changed for me at first as I was in a job that I really liked. It was just important for me to finish my degree so that when the right opportunity came along, I would be qualified.”

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I really enjoy working with students. I like being able to help people in general.

— Nikki Peters, director of advising and enrollment

After starting her family, Peters started to piece together what she wanted to do when her boss at the insurance agency retired.

“I just didn’t want to see myself having to start over somewhere new 10 or 15 years down the line,” Peters said. “So, I started watching job postings and came across the posting for the assistant director of financial aid here at the college. I am so glad that I applied for that job!”

Down the line, Peters began her job as director of advising and enrollment where her role is to help students determine what classes they need to take to receive their degree and transfer to their university of choice.

“We also help to identify resources that may be helpful to students when they are struggling in classes. This may be referring them to the Writing Center, a math tutor, or helping to work through time management issues,” Peters said.

On top of helping students with their classes, Peters also assists international students with applying for admission and getting enrolled at Allen.

In the past, Peters was the adviser for PTK, and as of January, she has resumed her role of PTK advisor along with art instructor Tera Schultz.