It can be challenging as you gear up to start your first year at Cornell. Managing coursework, learning about a new campus and city, and making time to meet new friends and join clubs is an adjustment. To acclimate quickly, I found that the four support offices in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations (Student Services, Career Services, Engaged and Experiential Programs, and Catherwood Library’s staff) helped me a lot as I eased into my time at Cornell.

Office of Student Services (OSS)

OSS provides substantial support for undergraduates. The staff in OSS are advisors and mentors to all ILR students, regardless of their interests. They specialize in different areas of help and ensure that students find answers to all the questions they might have while transitioning to college. When considering what classes to take as a freshman, I contacted an advisor who helped me map out what courses to take to reach my goals.

Office of Career Services (OCS)

OCS is where students go for all things career related. OCS is set up very similarly to OSS, however, the advisors specialize in different areas and provide one-on-one counseling to students to develop their career goals. OCS has helped me build a resume, craft a cover letter, reach out to potential employers, find on-campus research, and much more.

Office of Engaged and Experiential Programs

ILR’s Engaged and Experiential Programs office allows students to participate in hands-on learning experiences and study abroad opportunities. Credit internships enable students to intern at firms during the academic year. These span from legal internships at some of the country's top labor and employment law offices to human resources internships at Disney.

This office also hosts the International Study program, which nearly 100 ILR students take advantage of every year. Programs include exchange opportunities with partner universities in Australia, Italy, Spain, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. These opportunities are typically semester-long and let students explore a new place while fulfilling their ILR elective requirements abroad. This office also hosts programs within the Office of Global Learning (OGL). These sessions are often over summer and winter breaks and offer a shorter study abroad experience. This past summer, I went on an OGL summer study abroad to Italy and found the experience incredibly fun and exciting.

Catherwood Library Support Staff

Last but certainly not least is Catherwood Library’s support staff. You’ll probably meet some of these staff members in your first days of classes, as they help students understand how to use library resources efficiently. I frequently visited the support staff for some of my classes last year. Steven Calco, a Research Archivist in the library’s Kheel Center, was often my main line of help and would help me find files in the archive or teach me how to use other library resources.

ILR’s offices are here to help you throughout your time at Cornell. There are so many ways to meet your advisors and learn about the resources and support services offered, and the easiest way to start is just to stop by an office and say hi!