Meet…Lenora Sotlar

Though new to the Center for Exploratory Studies, Lenora Sotlar is a familiar face to many in the UC community. She formally served as director of advising and orientation for the Center for Access and Transition (CAT) in the College of Applied Sciences, where she played a significant role in the development of its advising structure. She plans on employing a similar hands-on approach in her role as McMicken’s assistant director of CES and coordinator for the Alumni Shadowing and Major Mentoring programs.

Sotlar is committed to CES’ philosophy towards advising: “The idea is to provide a quality educational experience. We offer unconditional support for those who are receptive to it.” A stand-alone center for major selection and exploratory advising is a rare feature on most campuses, and this innovative strategy serves as a perfect outlet for her professional goal, which is to “facilitate positive change in the lives of all of those around me.” “We serve students’ academic needs and empower them with knowledge to make their own informed decisions,” she explains.

Sotlar recalls that while working on her bachelor’s degree in psychology at the University of Kentucky, the courses she enjoyed most were psychology, sociology, and anthropology, so earning a master’s of education in community and agency counseling at Xavier University seemed a natural next step. A graduate internship in the career counseling office at Cincinnati State put her on her current career track.

Born in San Diego, Sotlar has lived in Cincinnati for nearly seven years. But her upbringing as a self-described “military brat” saw her spending time in more exotic locations like Guam and Japan. As a child, she also visited the Polynesian Islands and the Orient. She has traveled to eleven European countries, Egypt, Israel, and Cyprus. She adds, “The most fascinating trip I’ve taken was to Croatia, where my husband and I visited his father’s childhood home and located some friends and relatives we had never met before.”

All this travel has so profoundly influenced her thinking that when you ask her to identify what she likes most about the Queen City, she answers, “The fact that it’s home to one of America’s most centrally located international airports- a portal to the world within reach!” What she really likes best about being settled in Cincinnati, however, is having time to spend with her husband and their 22-month-old daughter, Isabella, who is “turning out to be the real traveler in the family.”