First-Year Advising

Your advising/mentoring team will grow over time to include other helpful people on campus. You will meet some of these people in the first weeks of the year:

Your First Year College Advisor

Each first-year student is paired with a member of the faculty, who will serve as their College Advisor through the first year. (In the sophomore year, students choose a faculty member to advise them as they choose a major, and that person may or may not be the same as the College Advisor, depending on the student.) Your College Advisor’s job is to help you think most broadly about how to take advantage of the opportunities Wellesley offers. You will find out who your College Advisor is on MyWellesley in mid-August, and should plan to meet with her or him during orientation or during the first week of classes. You will meet your College Advisor either during orientation or during the first week of class, depending on when faculty members return for the school year. Regular meetings with both your College Advisor and Orientation Mentor will help you make strong initial connections to other students and to the faculty, and these are the cornerstones of a successful transition to college.

 

Your Orientation Mentor (OM)

Each first-year student is part of a Orientation Mentor group led by an upperclass student trained to assist students in making an effective transition to Wellesley College. Mentors are invaluable as guides to student life at Wellesley, because they are students themselves. Watch for information about your mentor, which we plan to post in MyWellesley in late July. In August, you will be able to talk with your mentor and others in your group in a Google group set up for your mentor group, which will help you get ready for your arrival on campus.

• First-year students and transfer students will meet their Orientation Mentors on the first day of Orientation.

• Students participating in the WellesleyPlus program: Watch your Wellesley email for information about where you will meet your mentors, but it will be over dinner on the first day of Orientation.

• Davis Scholars will meet their mentors when they arrive for Orientation. Look for email from Dean Cohen with details. 

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Your floor’s Resident Assistant (RA)

 

Your residence hall’s Community Director (CD)

 

Your residence hall’s House President (HP)

 

Your residence hall’s Academic Success Coach (ASC)

Academic Success Coaches are student leaders trained to work with students on study skills and help specifically with the academic aspects of the transition to Wellesley.

 

For student-athletes, your residence hall's Athlete Mentor (AMP)

 

Your First-Year Dean, Shanté Brown

Shanté Brown serves as the Dean for First-Year Students, and she is charged with overseeing the academic and personal growth of all first-year students. She is available throughout the semester to meet with first-year students, and welcomes your questions and conversation on your goals and hopes, your academic experiences, and your adjustment to Wellesley. Other members of the Class Deans' office are happy to meet with first year students too, and you can learn about them and see their office hours here. 

 

Additional advisors/mentors

Additional people will become very important and helpful to you at Wellesley, and it will be you who choose these people and build mutually satisfying and beneficial relationships with them. Your instructors will certainly be some of these people, and eventually you may want to ask one of them to be your formal advisor when you declare your major.

 

In addition to the faculty, others who may come to play key roles in your time at Wellesley may be some of our Assistant Deans of Intercultural Education, the Class Deans who work with upper-class students, members of our health and counseling services, members of our Religious and Spiritual Life group, and your College Career Mentor from Career Education. Look out for opportunities to interact with these offices as the year goes on.

 

Finally, some of the most important people you will meet will be the other members of your class, along with all the other students on campus. The friendships you make here, and the experiences you share with other students inside and outside the classrooms, will be the true foundations of your lives after college. Collaborating with the people in these groups with whom you most deeply connect is the best strategy for success at college and beyond.

 

Over the summer on MyWellesley, you will learn the names of your College Advisor and your Orientation Mentor (or other peer mentor, for our transfer students and Davis Scholars). These are among the key people who will help start to build your advising team over your four years at Wellesley.

 

These people are in place and ready to help you as you arrive. It’s up to you to seek them out, let them get to know you, and ask them for their assistance as you get started at Wellesley. Don’t be shy! And don’t be concerned if you “click” more with some people than others. That’s natural, and that’s why we have a network of support for you, rather than relying on just one person for each student.