Undergraduate Advising
All students are assigned an Academic Advisor, who is responsible for guiding students through their academic journey at Naropa, beginning with new student orientation and ending with graduation. Advisors assist students in navigating academic policies and procedures, tracking degree requirements and creating course schedules each semester. Advisors also monitor students’ academic performance and intervene when students are in academic difficulty. Advisors are student advocates who assist students in making well-informed decisions regarding their education. This process includes helping students to clarify their interests, strengths and goals, as well as assisting them in developing their decision-making skills.
Undergrad Academic Advising is located on the second floor of Wulsin Hall in The Learning Commons, an alliance of campus resources that actively collaborate to support a student’s journey toward self-discovery, academic success, and engaged action in the world.
Meet Our Staff
Jessica Del Castillo, Senior Director of Academic Advising
MEd, Adult Learning, Training and Development, Regis University
BA, Psychology, Naropa University
A graduate of Naropa’s Psychology program, Jessica believes in the crazy wisdom and transformative power of a contemplative education. As a longtime educator with over ten years of experience in the field of higher education, Jessica encourages students to manifest their inherent brilliance through mindfulness-based and experiential practices including cultivating compassion, self-love and an ongoing investigation of mind and body. Having earned her Masters of Education in Adult Learning, Training and Development from Regis University, Jessica feels that the relationship between a student and their educational journey is unique, and she strives to meet each student where they are, supporting them in their developmental process while fostering intellectual clarity and an awakened heart. A lover of life and a voracious reader, Jessica’s passions include her family, rescuing animals and running marathons.
Alexa Heim, Academic Advisor & Retention Specialist
MA, Education, Counseling & Guidance in Higher Ed.
BS, Psychology, minor in Ethnic Studies, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
Alexa (she/they) is an educator, writer, musician and lifelong learner. They believe in the transformative power of radical compassion, shadow work, and rewriting one’s own narrative. Beginning their higher education in a community college setting and going on to earn an MA in Education for Counseling & Guidance, the heart of their work is to foster a space for students that is accessible, co-created, and without cognitive limitations.
Based on her own healing journey, Alexa is a passionate advocate for trauma work and reconsidering the Western constructs of neurodivergency and related spectrums. She has an interest in shamanism and is a student of community grief rituals. They also have a spiritual & somatic healing practice where she is always in search of new modalities and different ways to support her clients. She enjoys busking on the accordion, nordic neofolk music, and being by the water.
