Nicole Minkoff is the Undergraduate Adviser for the Chemical Engineering department. Nicole first joined the department in March of 2016, just before the senior cohort began their very first class - Chem E 310!
In college, Nicole studied International Studies and French, and was very involved with on campus activities. During her time as a RA supervisor, Nicole realized how much she enjoyed helping people meet their potential. She went on to study Student Affairs in Higher Education in graduate school at Colorado State University. Nicole spent some time as a resident director at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma. Eventually, she decided it was time to move out of the residence halls (she had been living in them for 9 years at this point!).
In 2013, Nicole moved up to Seattle and joined the UW as an advisor for the International & English Language Programs. UW appealed to her because at such a large university, there were many students to help, and many advisors to collaborate with. Although she enjoyed her time with IELP, the program only allowed her to get to know the students over the course of 3 quarters at the most. She wanted to be able to spend more time with the students in order to get to know them better! That led her to finding her current position in the ChemE department.
She has had no issue transitioning to helping engineering students - her dad was an engineer and she seems to really like the engineering mindset. She has really enjoyed getting to know the students over the past year and a half, and we’ve enjoyed having her as well!
A few fun facts about Nicole: she has a 2 year old rescue dog named Verona and although she grew up in Pullman, she assures that she is not a Cougs fan.
And finally, a piece of advice: Ask for help and ask for it early! Many students think they need to handle things alone (false!) and when they finally ask for help, most don’t ask it soon enough. Find someone you feel comfortable with and talk to them before you get overwhelmed!