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OPAL provides ongoing individual student advising to enhance the academic, personal, leadership, and career opportunities of all students, with particular outreach to students from historically under-served communities.
OPAL staff members pride themselves on being available and accessible to all students in an open and inclusive manner. To make an appointment with an OPAL staff member, please email them directly or drop by their office. If you're not sure who to talk with specifically, please contact the OPAL central office via email or at (603) 646-1656.
OPAL delivers programs for student groups and communities that proactively address their academic, personal, and cultural needs (e.g. academic programs and lectures, workshops, mentoring programs, and orientation events).
The mission of Occom Scholars is to develop the intellectual potential of Native first-year students by building scholarly capacity and creating a strong cadre of indigenous intellectuals within the Indigenous population at Dartmouth. Using a foundation of Native knowledge in its curriculum, Occom Scholars aims to enhance participants' writing, research, cognitive, and critical thinking skills.
First Generation College Student Network
Started in the fall of 2008 at the request of students and housed in OPAL, the First Generation Network is a support network made up of over 100 students, faculty, and staff who share this common experience. Through community dinner gatherings and small group mentoring opportunities, students build on their strengths and develop creative solutions for addressing complex academic and social challenges. Check out the First Generation College Student Network's blog!
International Undergraduate Orientation
International undergraduate students are invited to participate in a series of meetings, workshops, and activities geared towards enhancing the Dartmouth experience.
International Student Mentor Programs (ISM)
The International Student Mentor Program (ISM) is designed to help new undergraduate international students adjust to their Dartmouth experience during their first academic year. Interested incoming students are matched with an undergraduate mentor who helps him/her with questions and concerns throughout the year. This may include recommending a campus resource, offering advice on courses to take, or sharing their own experience with cultural adjustments.
The Academic Hustle Program is an umbrella program for academic outreach initiated by OPAL's Advisor to Black Students. The program seeks to encourage the development of strong academic experience during the freshman and sophomore years, and consists of course selection advisement, workshops on academic success, and peer mentoring.
Native Leadership Institute (NLI)
The Native Leadership Institute (NLI) is a program for entering students prior to Orientation. Students participating in the Native Leadership Institute are interested in developing their academic and leadership capacity, both in and out of the classroom, while at Dartmouth. Students participate in a series of seminars and workshops focusing on identifying individual goals; gaining familiarity with college life and the Dartmouth community; and understanding the ways Native knowledge can contribute to the Dartmouth community.
Asians in America Identities Retreat
This 5 hour retreat features a series of workshops led by OPAL staff and trained student facilitators. Student participants are provided with the opportunity to explore aspects of their own personal racial and cultural identity in an open and affirming environment.
Native American Program Retreat
The Fall and Winter NAP weekend retreats allow members of the Dartmouth Native community to reconnect with each other and their cultural foundations while reflecting on where we have been and where we want to go as a community of multiple Native nations and traditions.
