Tag: Allison Ramsing

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New York trip proves an eye-opener

The OSU contingent on its visit to Squeeze Jeans.
The OSU contingent on its visit to Squeeze Jeans.

Nine students majoring in either apparel design or merchandising management spent six days in New York last month, earning two senior-level credits apiece while touring and analyzing various locales in the hub of the fashion world.

“The trip was incredible,” said advisor Allison Ramsing, who accompanied the students. “I went on a study tour in ’08 as a student, so to go on the instructor side was incredible. The city has changed a ton; there are always new things happening in the fashion industry.”

The students – Lu Lu, Ruochen Huang, Duncan Miller, Monica Nguyen, Yin Hung, Shelby Dodrill, Gabrielle Palazuelos, Marie Recine and Meagan Amos – went on “educational shopping trips” to the flagship stores of three retailers: Urban Outfitters, Forever 21 and Brooks Brothers.

“They’d go into the store and see how many markdowns there were, how much product there was, what was the fitting room like, how long the line was,” Ramsing said, ticking off just a few of the more than three dozen study questions the students had to answer as part of their store-experience analyses.

Other parts of the coursework included keeping a reflective journal, doing a portfolio page, and following up with and writing thank-yous to each company the students interacted with – Tiger J, Kleinfeld Bridal, Ross Stores, JPMA Global, Wanderlust Girls, Tuleste Market, CHF Industries, Fashion Snoops, Maran Inc./Squeeze Jeans, Mood Designer Fabrics, Macy’s, Kenneth D. King and Tibi, in addition to the three stores previously mentioned.

The group trip to New York has been an “every other summer” offering for apparel design and merchandising management students “for quite a few years,” Ramsing said.

The advisor shared some of her favorite student comments from the trip in a presentation to her colleagues after returning home:

  • “Just knowing that there are possibilities in New York City has expanded my thoughts on what I am able to do in the future.”
  • “So thankful for all of the people I’ve met, and the bonds I made with the people on this trip will last a lifetime.”
  • “Overall this experience has been eye-opening for a lot of jobs in the industry.”

    And at Wanderlust Girls.
    And at Wanderlust Girls.
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Academic advisor living her dream

Ramsing, Allison
Allison Ramsing has been honored as the top new advisor in Region 8.

Allison Ramsing, academic advisor in the Oregon State University College of Business, learned while growing up in tiny Aurelia, Iowa, that life was about meeting challenges and mapping out plans to get where she wanted to be.

As a child she had a condition that, given the state’s agricultural claim to fame, was an obstacle to say the least.

“I was allergic to corn,” she said. “You can imagine how well that worked.”

In the nation’s top corn-producing state, not that well.

But neither the allergy nor her small-town roots – Aurelia had fewer than 1,000 residents, and her high school graduating class numbered just 33 – got in the way of her pursuing, obtaining and excelling at what she calls her dream job: advising design and fashion students.

And her work has drawn the attention of the National Academic Advising Association, which in December named her the Region 8 2014 New Advisor Award Winner. She’ll be honored at the regional conference in Couer d’Alene, Idaho, in March and is eligible for consideration as the national award winner.

Ramsing started at the College of Business in July 2012 as advisor and retention coordinator for the School of Design and Human Environment. She holds a Master of Science in Education in Higher Education Administration from the University of Kansas, a Certificate of Appreciative Advising from the University of South Carolina and a Bachelor of Science in Apparel Merchandising, Design, and Production from Iowa State University.

Ramsing consults with her freshmen students at least once a term, and with her upper-level students at least once a year.

“We look at the whole picture,” she said. “How are you doing with your classwork, in your residence hall, with your family, with your friends, are you involved?”

Merchandising management student Magda Ponce calls Ramsing “the reason why I am continuing to pursue an education at Oregon State University.”

Carol Leder, head advisor for the College of Business, cites two examples of Ramsing’s commitment to student development: co-teaching of a freshman-level course, BA 160, designed to instruct students about how to be successful in college, and advising the DAMChic student club that puts out an online fashion magazine of the same name. (It can be viewed at http://issuu.com/damchicmagazine/docs/la_dramatic/1?e=7666273/9569842).

“As an academic advisor, I am responsible for helping foster each student’s potential and assisting them in understanding the difference between a major and a career,” Ramsing said.