Welcome to the “Mentoring

Matters” presentation!

During the presentation we will be asking

interactive poll questions. If you would like to

participate in the polls, please send a text to

37607 with the message “jmputmancsu” to

join our poll group.

Mentoring Matters: Promoting Mentoring Relationships for your

Students and Self

Jill Putman

NACADA Annual Conference – October 2016

Presentation Outline:

– No “silver bullet”

• Time for discussion, reflection, and consideration

– What is mentoring and why is it important?

– Example mentoring programs in Geosciences Department at Colorado State University

– Taking our own advice

What is Mentoring?

• Previous studies (Jacobi, 1991 and Crisp & Cruz, 2009)

have discussed absence of a common definition of

mentoring across research literature.

• Some common themes identified:

– Relationship focused on individual growth

– Access to support and resources

– Relationships are personal and reciprocal

• Gray area around duration, title/expertise level of mentor

For Today’s Discussion:

• Mentoring is defined as a meaningful, mutually

reciprocal, and beneficial relationship between

two or more individuals. This relationship is

characterized by the sharing of resources, the

emphasis on personal and professional

development, and active engagement in a

continual learning and growth process for all

parties involved.

What is Mentoring?

• Coaching vs. mentoring

• Mentorship vs. sponsorship

Who are Mentors?

Discussion:

ARE ADVISORS MENTORS?

Why do we care?

• 2014 Gallup-Purdue Index Report:

– Alumni who reported having a professor that cared about

them as a person, a professor who made them excited about

learning and a mentor who provided encouragement had

more than double the odds of being engaged at work. *Only

14% of all graduates reporting having all three

– 22% report having a mentor who encouraged me to pursue

my goals and dreams (2.2x more engaged at work and 1.7x

higher odds of thriving in areas of well-being)

– Reports of mentorship also related to greater emotional

attachment to alma mater

Mentoring Research

• Mentored research program for STEM students (Haeger & Fresquez, 2016)

• Applications for online students (Harrell, 2008), need for interaction and support (Ludwig-Hardman & Dunlap, 2003)

• Underrepresented racial/ethnic minority students

– Assist with managing stressors

– Facilitate persistence, more positive perception of university environment (Bordes & Arredondo, 2005)

• Assist with academic and social integration into institution for community college students, goal commitment to persist (Crisp, 2010)

Benefits of Mentoring

MENTEES

• Academic achievement (Haeger & Fresquez, 2016 and

Good, Halpin & Halpin, 2000)

• Self-confidence and critical

thinking (Erkut & Mokros, 1984)

• Positive behavioral,

attitudinal, health-related,

interpersonal, motivational

and career outcomes (Eby, et

al., 2008)

MENTORS

• Kupenda, 2016:

– Career

validation/confirmation

– Promotion of student allies

– Building a legacy

• Good, Halpin & Halpin,

2000: (Peer mentoring)

– Learning strategies, GPA,

knowledge of content,

personal skills, greater

connection to community

Mentoring Research

• Additional empirically based, methodologically rigorous,

and theoretically sound research studies needed (Crisp

& Cruz, 2009)

• Hierarchical nature of traditional mentor/mentee roles

can create confusion or detrimental power dynamics,

particularly with peer mentoring relationships (Colvin &

Ashman, 2010)

Diversity of Mentoring Models

• Formal vs. informal (planned vs. spontaneous)

• Peer vs. faculty vs. professional

• Individual vs. team/mentoring circles

• In-person vs. virtual/remote/distance

• Goals established vs. organic process

– Crisp & Cruz, 2009

Mentoring Programs in

Gesociences Department at

Colorado State University

Geosciences Department at CSU

• ~180 Undergraduate Students, ~60 graduate students

• .75 FTE Academic Success Coordinator

• 14.5 Tenure-Track Faculty

• STEM discipline

– Calculus, Chemistry, Physics

• Student demographics

– Few students of color, low percentage of women in major

– Veteran, non-traditional, transfer student representation

– ~17% first-generation, 20% Pell-eligible

Faculty Mentor Program

• Undergraduate students assigned faculty mentor by ASC

• Students are required to see ASC, encouraged to see

faculty mentor

• Receive assignments within first two weeks of semester

• Welcome letter on behalf of faculty

• Continual “nudging” throughout semester

– Infographic

– Email etiquette

– Discussed in advising appointment

Faculty Mentor Program

• No formal training provided to faculty– Some informal requests for assistance

• Independently-initiated major

concentration gatherings

Grad/Undergrad Program

• Developed as a result of graduate student request

• Piloted in SP15 as semester program

• Volunteer program

• Mentors must apply and attend “training”

• Mentees apply and must attend initial program meeting

• Addition of group activities (planned by ASC)

• End of year recognition event

• Program evaluation

Grad/Undergrad Program• “I enjoyed the chance to connect with other people besides

undergraduates in the department. I feel like graduate and

undergraduate students sometimes fall only into a teacher-student

relationship, and this program gave us the opportunity to have a

different kind of interaction.”

• “I would and have already suggested the program to both graduate

and undergraduate students. First of all is a great way to network

students within the department in a relaxed environment. I will also

suggest the mentoring program because as a transfer student it was

an amazing opportunity to create rapport with faculty, staff and

students that I was unable to do if I started at CSU.”

First-Generation Community Mentoring

• Initiatives developed to address needs identified through

retention/graduation data at CSU

• Identification of first-generation faculty and staff

members

• Letter to students

• Invitation to pizza lunch

• Promotion of undergraduate research, department

positions

Lessons Learned

• “Forced” mentorship and personality mis-match

• Training and development of mentors (faculty and

students)

• Power dynamics, particularly with graduate students

• Success of organic and informal programs and

relationships

• Program models with peers and alumni

• Low-cost initiatives

• “You can lead a horse to water…”

THINK – PAIR – SHARE

What mentoring initiatives do you

currently use or promote in your role?

How do you encourage/coach students to

find and utilize mentors?

TAKING OUR OWN ADVICE

Reflection Activity

Resources

• http://www.case.edu/facultydevelopment/media/caseedu/

faculty-development/Full-mentoring-workbook-for-PDF-

link.pdf

• https://hr.osu.edu/public/documents/learning-

development/mentoring-mentor-toolkit-%20final-508.pdf

• http://www.cod.edu/teleconf/soaring/pdf%20files/mentor

worksheet.pdf

• http://www.adapp-advance.msu.edu/Faculty-Mentoring-

Toolkit-

Resources%20for%20Mentors%20and%20Mentees

Questions?

Jill Putman

jill.putman@colostate.edu

ReferencesBordes, V. & Arredondo, P. (2005). Mentoring and 1st-year Latina/o college students. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 4, 114-133.

Colvin, J.W. & Ashman, M. (2010). Roles, risks, and benefits of peer mentoring relationships in higher education. Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnerships in Learning, 18, 121-134.

Crisp, G. (2010). The impact of mentoring on the success of community college students. The Review of Higher Education, 34, 39-60.

Crisp, G., & Cruz, I. (2009). Mentoring college students: A critical review of the literature between 1990 and 2007. Research in Higher Education, 50, 525-545.

Darwin, A., & Palmer, E. (2009). Mentoring circles in higher education. Higher Education Research and Development, 28, 125-136.

Eby, L. T., Allen, T. D., Evans, S. C., Ng, T. & DuBois, D. L. (2008). Does mentoring matter?: A multidisciplinary meta-analysis comparing mentored and non-mentored individuals. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 72, 254-267.

ReferencesErkut, S., & Mokros, J. R. (1984). Professors as models and mentors for college students. American Educational Research Journal, 21, 399-417.

Gallup-Purdue Index Report. (2014). Great jobs, great lives: A study of more than 30,000 college graduates across the U.S.

Good, J.M., Halpin, G., & Halpin. G. (2000). A promising prospect for minority retention: Students becoming peer mentors. The Journal of Negro Education, 69, 375-383.

Haeger, H., & Fresquez, C. (2016). Mentoring for inclusion: The impact of mentoring on undergraduate researchers in the sciences. CBE – Life Sciences Education, 15:ar36, 1-9.

Harrell, I.L. (2008). Increasing the success of online students. Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges, 13, 36-44.

Kupenda, A. M. (2016) Mentoring pluses for underrepresented faculty. Diverse Issues in Higher Education, (http://diverseeducation.com/article/85249).

Ludwig-Hardman, S. & Dunlap, J.C. (2003). Learning support services for online students: Scaffolding for success. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 4.