In two years, the new advising model has doubled the number of students in each semester’s cohort and contributed to an alternative approach to student success.

The Honors College’s Resilience & Retention (R&R) Advising Program has grown significantly since Dean Jill Hernandez hatched the idea soon after arriving at Texas Tech University. 

Its momentum has continued to surge, the latest triumph being the gathering of close to 80 people at the International Cultural Center in late February for the 2025 Resilience & Retention Conference. Hernandez and Kelsey Kimzey, R&R program director, called the event the first of its kind. 

The two-day conference drew attendees and speakers from all over Texas and beyond for an opportunity to learn best practices, share successes, setbacks and experiments.

Kimzey has received nothing but rave reviews from those who went and even people who couldn’t attend. She also heard from others just excited about the concept of such information being shared in a group setting, especially in such a budding field. 

That so many want to hear what Kimzey is a part of inspires her, though she feels she’s just doing her duty of helping students daily. 

“But if there are people who want this information, then I think it’s our duty to share it so that other people can have these kinds of results,” Kimzey said. “I don’t think there should be such a thing as gatekeeping information when it comes to student success.”

She may be humble, but it’s her passion for education that distinguished her as the ideal candidate to lead the R&R program when it launched in spring 2023. 

Kimzey comes from a family of Red Raiders who all regard education highly, a tenet imparted in Kimzey and her siblings by her parents. Though she discovered teaching wasn’t a fit for her, her time as an undergraduate resident assistant revealed she had a future somewhere in higher education. After earning a master’s degree in higher education administration from Texas Tech, she joined the Honors College in 2020 as an academic advisor.

When Hernandez took on the role of dean two years later, Kimzey notified her that she was ready to embrace a new challenge and make her mark on the college. That emerged as the R&R program, in which Kimzey would be responsible for providing the attention students needed to manage college life and the Honors College’s specific, high standards. 

Kimzey meets individually with students three times a semester; to form an initial connection, goals and a success plan at the start; to check in and evaluate the plan mid-semester; and to discuss the results and what comes next in an optional session at the end.

Tijana Lekić, a fourth-year industrial engineering major, was part of the program’s first cohort during her second year. Having experienced both regular advising and Kimzey’s approach, Lekić remembers the latter diving deeper into her story than academics and holding her accountable. 

Lekić faced the challenges of time management and the rigors of her schoolwork. Her confidence was shot to where she pondered whether she was cut out for the Honors College at all. 

But the time spent with Kimzey organizing plans paid off gradually and made Lekić look forward to sharing her progress. 

Not only did Kimzey endear herself to Lekić through her caring nature, but also by being authentic and sharing her own quirks and struggles. 

“She doesn’t see herself as, ‘Oh, I’m over here as the advisor.’ It’s more like, ‘I’m an advisor and I have resources, but I’m also here to support you,’” Lekić said.

“Sharing her side as well helped make her seem more approachable, because it wasn’t just strictly business, it was also personal.”

Anyssia Hernandez, set to graduate in May with a bachelor’s degree in criminology, had her own challenges while navigating the substantial transition from high school to college. 

Hernandez enrolled in the Honors College during her second year with grand expectations, but during that first semester, she failed a class for the first time ever as she balanced being a full-time student, participating in multiple student organizations and working multiple jobs. 

For a student who had always performed at the top of her classes, Hernandez was taken aback by how quickly she’d stumbled. The Lubbock native’s negative emotions were immediately compounded by the death of a dear family member and the duties she needed to fulfill for her family just down the road.

Hernandez felt defeated, burdened by her personal and academic trials.

“I had built all this in my head, thinking it’s supposed to be great, and I’m supposed to be excelling, but I’m struggling,” she recalled.

Prior to meeting with Kimzey for the first time, Hernandez was terrified of walking into a confrontation when she was already at such a low point. Instead, the meeting was an opportunity for Hernandez to freely disclose all she’d experienced, so much so that Hernandez thought she scared Kimzey.

Kimzey didn’t recoil nor shrink. She sat, listened and understood in a manner no one else did, Hernandez remembered. Kimzey’s recommendation for Hernandez to seek help from the Student Wellness Center was just as pivotal as Kimzey’s other suggestions.

Hernandez worked with Kimzey for a little over two semesters, but Kimzey’s approach of catering support to students’ varying needs has stuck with Hernandez through her own time working at the College of Arts & Sciences’ Office of Student Success.

The two recently crossed paths after roughly a year without contact, but when they started talking it felt like nothing had changed. Kimzey’s affability makes it so all students can come to her and feel heard.

“It’s like having an alternative, supportive figure,” said Hernandez. “Yes, I’m with my family and I’m very fortunate, but not everybody has that.”

Letting students know she’s there for them makes a huge difference, Kimzey said, recalling with teary eyes the difficult conversations she’s had with students.

People are more willing to make adjustments when they’re confident the advice they’re receiving is in their best interest, Kimzey added.

The development that occurs in higher education and the grace period to make mistakes and learn is what attracted Kimzey to the field begin with. It’s been extra special to be so impactful at the same place that has awarded degrees to her and all her siblings.

She’s followed through on her desire to leave a few tracks around the university, something she never would’ve expected 10 years ago. Kimzey has led the R&R program to have twice as many students in a cohort now than in 2023, bolstered by the addition of a program staff member, and she’s already looking forward to expanding next year’s conference on Texas Tech’s campus.

Among those Kimzey will see in the fall and beyond will be Lekić’s siblings, who enrolled in the Honors College after Lekić passed on her experience within the college and with Kimzey.

When Lekić thinks of Resilience & Retention, she thinks of “bouncing back, no matter what happens.” 

“If the system was one way, then a lot of people wouldn’t fit and would fall out,” said Lekić. “If you don’t fit into that standard way of academics, the R&R program can build you a personalized plan to help you reach your goal and finish off with the Honors program.”