Dr. Timothy Alvarez’s life is a living example of the importance of mentors in higher education.
Dr. Timothy Alvarez
Among the highlights of his presidency is serving a diverse student population. Otero is a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). As a result, the college received a Title V grant, $3.5 million over five years, that enabled the school to focus on mentoring, professional development for faculty and undergraduate research. Over the course of his presidency, Alvarez has tried to accentuate the college’s HSI status and effectively serve that constituency.
“We’re one of the few rural schools in Colorado that actually has a full-time licensed mental health professional,” Alvarez said. “Knowing all the challenges that our students are going through — much more since COVID — it’s so important.”
Otero is a residential college in La Junta, Colorado. In addition to more than 30 academic and certificate programs, there are bachelor’s degree programs offered in collaboration with Colorado University, Denver. The T-PREP (Partnership for Rural Educator Program) allows students who want to remain in the local community to earn a four-year degree and a teaching license.
“Really delighted to do that knowing how challenging it is for our rural schools to have teachers,” Alvarez said. “We had seven students graduate this year from that program with CU and all of them are working as teachers in our area. That shows we’re really trying to serve our local rural populations.”
Career readiness has been a big issue for Alvarez, and he has increased relevant programming. The college has developed some micro-internships at which students can work 10-hour to 40-hour paid internships to gain experience. There are also opportunities for students to do a five- or six-hour virtual internship.
