Nicole Kotlan is both a first-gen college graduate and advocate. The daughter of two immigrants, Nicole navigated the college application and transition process with a lot of assistance from guidance counselors, her older brother, and the mentors she would soon meet at Kent State. Upon arriving to campus as an undergraduate student, Nicole was lucky to have found a mentor in Liz Sinclair, Assistant Dean in the College of Business Administration, who assisted her with everything from FYE and selecting a major, to co-teaching an orientation course and participating in a pilot learning community offered by the College of Business.
Nicole also benefitted from the support and mentorship of Dr. Pamela Grimm, whose guidance helped Nicole navigate the graduate education and post-graduation job search processes. It was this support both inside and outside of the classroom that Nicole says made all the difference in her experience at KSU. Nicole is a two-time (soon to be three-time) alumna of Kent State University where she obtained her undergraduate degree in Business Administration and her master’s degree in Higher Education Administration and Student Personnel.
Upon graduating and working in the private sector for some time, Nicole decided to return to higher education, this time as someone who could pour into the students she would serve, much like Liz and Pam had done with her. As fate would have it, Nicole accepted a position in the Undergraduate Programs Office in the College of Business Administration in 2010, where she was fortunate enough to work with her mentor, Liz. During her time in the College of Business, Nicole worked in close partnership with the Kent State TRIO Upward Bound Programs, working with staff, students, and parents during special programs to teach a two-week summer session for their Summer Academy.
Nicole now serves as the director of the Exploratory Advising Center. Under her leadership, she and her team worked with TRIO Student Support Services to create and implement a first-generation section of the First Year Experience course. She also worked to re-align some of her advising positions to include a primary focus on first generation students to further support them and help increase their retention and graduation rates.
