Academic Mentoring provides sequential, guided discussion and fosters student reflection about individual educational and career path issues. Research shows that guided discussions of issues that impact students' sense of control over their academic outcomes enhance overall student success.
For example, Academic Mentoring helps students to:
- More successfully navigate the transition into college.
- Define educational goals and make full use of campus and community resources during college.
- Identify and prepare for broader educational and/or career options after college.
Your mentor will ask questions akin to:
- Have you cultivated new social networks?
- What new skills have you acquired and how might you apply them to contexts outside of school?
- How and why did you choose your major and what might that mean for your life and career plan?
Academic Mentoring begins the first term of Foundation Year. Students meet with a faculty Academic Mentor once each term until they graduate. During one semester of the Junior year, Career Services provides career advising to begin preparations for internship and professional opportunities. Transfer students begin Academic Mentoring during the term in which they enter the College, and meet with an Academic Mentor once each term, through graduation.
Academic Mentoring is a unique, academic control-enhancing process that is organized around a set of questions relating to educational milestones, and builds upon answers considered in previous terms to help students acquire skills and attitudes that promote their intellectual and personal development. Students confer with Academic Mentors on key questions and challenges that shape their educational experiences, from adjusting to college life to choosing a major, defining and fulfilling educational goals, and transitioning toward graduate education or professional practice.
Of course, if college life—or life in general—becomes overwhelming, individual Counseling and Psychological Services is also available.
Please contact Academic Mentoring Coordinator, Maggie Light (mlight@otis.edu) (310) 665-6996 (room AHMN 506),
for assistance with appointments, follow-ups, or questions.
You may also contact:
- Nick Negrete, Dean of Student Affairs (studentaffairs@otis.edu) (310) 846-2554 for Assistance and referral to many helpful services
- Career Services (careerservices@otis.edu) (310) 665-6966 for Career Planning
- Counseling and Psychological Services (studenthealth@otis.edu) (310) 846-5738
- Financial Aid In the One-Stop (onestop@otis.edu) (310) 665-6999 for Financial questions and concerns
- Registration and Records In the One-Stop (onestop@otis.edu) (310) 665-6999 for Registration and Academic Advising questions
- Student Learning Center located in the Library
- Success Coaching is also available through the SLC
Resources
For Students:
-
Use the online Scheduling system to make an appointment with an Academic Mentor.
- Review The Hoot (College catalog)
For Academic Mentors:
- Use the online Insight interface to record your mentoring notes and records
- Use the online Scheduler to set your available appointment times/days, and review student appointment signups
- Review The Hoot (College catalog)
- The Top Six Things You Need to Know About Your BFA Program
- Student Hold Guide
Relevant Literature:
- How Goal Setting improves academic performance (Journal of Applied Psychology)
- Perceived Academic Control in college art/design student success (Studies in Art Education)
- National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) (numerous articles)
- The Value of Faculty Led Academic Mentoring (Marymount College).