Mentoring students.
Does mentoring our students is a good way to improve retention?
i believe by mentoring students that have a problem is a good way to gauge how the student views the school and us as instructors. this also gives us a chance to change their views if they open up to us. some time i find that they want to see if we are really will to help or are we just saying that.
Every minute of every class is a form of mentoring students.Every yawn or classroom movement should be monitored to determine student interest and learning. Deviations from normal patterns should be investigated with the students and adjustments made where necessary. The bottom line is to get to know your students!
Robert, please tell us a little more about the type of mentoring you do? How does it relate to 'fathering'?
Many of my students come from broken homes - having very little or no positive fathering. I have found mentoring is a useful tool to reach these students and help them reach their objectives.
I think youre correct, but it is important that we remind them that it shouldnt be of urgency. Remember, anything worth achieving, isnt achieved easily and if it were easy everybody would be doing it.
Thanks, Jeanette. Seems like a well developed program. Hope it's producing good results for you.
We established a team of respected instructors to develop training for their peers. This is one of the modules they created. We also developed a form available to instructors that they could fill out and forward to Student Services identifying a student who may need someone to talk to. We call it our Early Intervention program.
What specifically do you do to provide additional tools/training for your instructors, Jeanette? Do you have a formal training program? Do you use senior instructors to mentor less experienced ones?
My experience as a school administrator tells me that the most infuencial mentor for the student is the instructor. I support providing instructors with additional tools/training to help them improve this skill.
We are in a business that changes lives. You're right, Andy, that we can measure our success as an institution, and personally, by the achievements of our graduates. There aren't many jobs or industries that are as rewarding.
I think you really hit on a key here. We will have students that merely needed information from us. They don't need the "extras." However, we will have students who need to be educated in more than just the technical information that we give them. They will need to know how life works, what a career is all about. Little things like how to dress for an interview and how to choose the right job, etc. We may be the only positive influence in this student's life. They need someone who believes in them. The reward is in helping a students like that achieve thier career goals. Then we konw we are successful.
Rodney, how do you coordinate this extra help?
it gives students extra help that is needed for achievement outstanding
How do you define mentoring, Marion? Does it include non-academic issues? Do you engage other students as mentors?
I feel that mentoring is an excellent way to improve retentiion. It gives them confidence and undersatanding which is important.
I agree that there are special students that need more of a helping hand. The trick is to keep it on a professional level without getting more involved with one student than you do with the rest. They all deserve our attention.
Having graduates return to the classroom, particularly if they are “typical†students rather than the “stars†that everyone knew would be successful, can be very powerful. However, I would be careful in selecting the graduate. We tend to think first of the most successful ones. However, your current students may more readily relate to a returning student who shares their background, had to overcome some of the same problems they are facing and got a good job [vs. a great one].
I believe that mentoring is very important. If a student meets and interacts with a former successful student;especially in there chosen field of study,the student can better visualize there own success.I have found that having former students come back to speak about their experiences is a great retention tool.
Lisa, I don't have any direct experience with a peer mentor program as you have outlined, but it certainly makes sense to provide students with as much support as possible. How difficult would it be to pilot a program with a section or two of your students? Hopefully, other participants with share their experience.
