Sharon Williams

Role and Background

Sharon Shuler Williams loves working with students and serves as the Academic Advisor for Construction Engineering and Management (CEM). She is passionate about helping students thrive and prosper in all aspects of life: mental, academic, social, physical, and economic. Williams joined Virginia Tech in 2000.

Her primary job duties include: guiding students in all phases of academic, leadership, wellness, experiential, and career goals; assisting students with long-term academic planning for timely graduation; networking with campus and industry resources; recruiting prospective students; coordinating student ambassadors and weekly tutoring; promoting students’ mental/physical well-being, self-care, social awareness, compassion, and service-learning; conducting summer orientation; leading recruitment efforts (open house, CEM Preview Day, campus/building/lab/construction site tours); Assisting with summer camps/outreach efforts; assisting with curriculum development and scholarship/awards selection.

Williams is a proud southwest Virginia native (Wythe County), and mother of four young adults. Her favorite ways to live out Ut Prosim (That I May Serve) in daily life include: leading her church “hands and feet” community service group, serving as board president of Montgomery County Emergency Assistance Program (MCEAP), a local emergency assistance non-profit/food pantry that provides $500,000+ annually in food, housing, fuel, clothing and medical assistance to Montgomery County, Virginia residents in need, working with a local pregnant teens’ ministry and serving as an overnight volunteer at To Our House winter homeless shelter. She is a people person who thrives on spending time with family and friends and maintains long-term contact with many of her students. She enjoys most any outdoor activity, is a voracious reader, and likes traveling, cooking, live concerts, thrifting, home improvement, and landscaping projects.

Before joining the Myers-Lawson School of Construction, Williams served as the Director of Career Services for the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. She has spent the majority of her career leading student success initiatives, academic advising and career coaching efforts in five different Virginia Tech colleges: College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, College of Engineering, College of Natural Resources, Pamplin College of Business, and College of Science. She served as the Undergraduate Academic and Recruitment Coordinator for Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education (ALCE), New River Community College Career Coach, Strategic Services Coordinator at VT KnowledgeWorks, New River Community College GED Tutoring Lead, and Graduate Advising Coordinator at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion in Roanoke. 

She has taught college classes in communications, business/technical writing, public speaking, and various mental wellness topics at Virginia Tech, Radford University and New River Community College. Before working with college students, she taught middle and high school agriculture for several years in Virginia and was a substitute teacher in Montgomery County, Virginia. Her combined experience has involved working with kindergarteners through adult education programs in various educational institutions.

Education

Sharon is a three-degree Hokie, with a double-major B.S. in Communications (Public Relations specialization) and Agriculture Education (Training and Development specialization). She also holds a M.S. in Career and Technical Education from Virginia Tech and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies (CAGS) for completing some coursework toward a Ph.D.