35-Year Profile — Tom Griffith

Tom Griffith

The times have done a lot of changing since Tom Griffith, director of Academic Advising, first began working at Sacramento State 35 years ago.

The United States was still in the middle of the Vietnam War and student protests were commonplace. Speakers like Bobby Seal, Robert Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy drew huge crowds of Sacramento State students who were determined to change the world.

Griffith, who graduated from Hobart College in upstate New York, had been working at UC Davis when he started looking for another job. He applied for a position in Student Activities and was hired as an activities advisor.

“Back then they sent you a telegram to tell you if you were hired,” Griffith says. “I still have that telegram.”

Griffith assisted the student organizations and helped out with student government elections.

Later, working with chemistry professor Dan Decious, Griffith was able to develop the Academic Advising Center. He is proud that he helped form it and has been a part of the work for 29 years.

“I love my job,” Griffith says. “I feel really fortunate to work with students and with faculty. I get a lot of satisfaction when I make things clear for a student and help them to succeed.”

Improving advising campuswide is one of Griffith’s responsibilities, as well as new student orientation. Complaints from students about the foreign language requirements spurred Griffith to go to the Faculty Senate to try to get the requirements changed. New requirements went into effect last fall.

The staff at the Advising Center is made up of an equal mix of students, faculty and staff. Professors can work at the center in lieu of one of their classes, but must commit to two years at the center because of the time it takes to be trained.

“We’ve had more than 120 faculty members work in the Advising Center over the years,” Griffith says. “Most of them have been active in advising in their own departments and feel confident that they know what they’re doing. They are quickly humbled by not immediately becoming an expert.”

Helping students succeed often involves counseling them about areas of their lives besides academics.

“There’s a formula we use for what works with regards to classloads and job hours,” Griffith says. “Sometimes we are able to take pre-emptive action and help students avoid problems. They have a lot more going on in their lives besides just being students.”

Griffith and his wife Nancy have raised three daughters, Hannah, Jane and Rose. They enjoy taking their sailboat out with the family on Folsom Lake.

Nancy works as a first grade teacher at Sutterville Elementary in Sacramento.

— Karen Watson