The Office of Cultural and Academic Transitions (OCAT) constructs supportive social and educational communities that actively involve students in learning. Specifically, we prompt students’ involvement in broad-based University learning experiences (e.g., study-abroad, alternative spring break, internships, etc.), while also connecting them to campus resources, people, and programs that lead to deeper student learning and personal success.

In part, OCAT accomplishes this mission by building critical alliances and links to academic units. Additionally, OCAT helps students to better understand themselves and others through cultural and social activities.

Student-to-student interaction is the key to benefiting from diversity, and OCAT strives to bring together individuals as well as groups of students from diverse racial, ethnic, international, and domestic backgrounds for meaningful interactions. Moreover, OCAT supports individual students in their navigation of cross-cultural encounters, and in their own understanding, exploration and development of cultural identity.