“What’s your passion?”
That’s the first question holistic advisor Julieta (Juli) Phillips ‘89 asks mechanical engineering students.
Students are eager to share their stories with her as they journey together on the academic and career journey. One student who loves bass fishing discovered a co-op job with a company that designs and manufactures motors for bass boats. Another, an avid cyclist, went to work for Huffy.
“I show them how to write a résumé and handle interviews, but what I really love is hearing their stories,” says Juli, a former GM engineer who once walked the same path studying mechanical engineering at UD and wondering where it all might lead. “I ask them, ‘Why UD? Why engineering? Where are you living? Are you eating ok?’ It’s a very personal approach.”
I recently invited Juli — who has nearly 10 years of advising experience at UD — and Justin Phillips, a newly hired (but seasoned elsewhere) holistic advisor, into my office for a conversation about their work with students and what it means to truly support them throughout their UD journey.
By support, I mean the UD way.
As of fall 2025, every incoming undergraduate has been paired with a holistic advisor, a dedicated guide who walks with them from move-in day to graduation. This new initiative is about helping students find their calling and live it.
For Justin, that begins with reassuring undecided majors in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Discover Program that it’s ok to not have their lives figured out just yet.
“Your vocation is to be a student. Everything else will play out,” said Justin, who brings an extensive background in supporting and mentoring students from his days working as an academic advisor at the University of Tennessee. “Students have freak-out moments. I tell them to take a breath, unpack your bags, and soak up what it means to be a student here. You came to UD because you have time to discover and explore.”
This summer, Justin, Juli, and nearly two dozen other academic holistic advisors took time to do a bit of discovering themselves. Through the University’s first Advising Academy, they explored how to support students in distress, infuse the Marianist mission in their work, and foster culturally inclusive advising practices to ensure that every student feels they truly belong on UD’s campus.
“Students tell me that their friends go to so-and-so university, and they don’t even know their advisors,” observed Justin. “At UD, we ask, ‘How can we better serve you?’ This is not a transactional relationship.”
Justin and Juli exuded such warmth and joy as they talked about helping students find their path and realize their dreams.
Isn’t that the heart of a Marianist education? We journey with students, helping them discover who they’re called to be.