Student Mentoring
As a faculty member, I often assign students to work on projects throughout the term - working in groups is a great way for students to come together both socially and within the school setting. I choose the groups, making sure that "new" students are paired with more experienced students - I also like to encourage a bit of competetion between the groups - in this way, the groups come to rely on each other more and new students feel that they are accepted and that they belong here.
I feel that student mentoring by psositve and motivated student work extremely well with entering students. It lets the new students know some of the fears and successes of one who has been in their spot in a contemporary time. This has been quite an aid in keeping students engaged.
Clifton,
Do you have a specific program in place? How do you choose the student mentors?
Susan Backofen
Paul ,
Strategically combining the groups is an excellent way to keep things 'mixed up' and provide students with different experience levels access to individuals who can help them grow. Often times we let students decide their groups and they tend to pick out the same people every time.
Susan Backofen
We have recently begun a student ambassador program in which older students with leadership skills and training mentor the "newbies" through their first semester and year with us. We'll keep you posted on the progress, but our retention committee feels sure retention will improve!
Our college has a student mentoring program and I think it dramatically enhances retention here because despite all the faculty's efforts to connect and be approachable, there is something less intimidating about being able to consult a peer about what they think is a "stupid question."
Our student mentors come to orientation to introduce themselves so new students recognize at least one friendly face on the first day of class. In my class I make a seating chart that mixes up the class a bit so the new students are near a mentor and also not feeling like an outsider when it's time for everyone to choose a seat.
Catherine,
This sounds like a great program! How do you determine who is a mentor?
Susan Backofen
