Running head: STUDENT MENTORING IN THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE 1

Student Mentoring in the Community College

Major Project 2

Joy Greco Welch

Northern Arizona University

CCHE-620 Access and Opportunity in Higher Education (Fall 2016 DD1)

October 14, 2016

STUDENT MENTORING IN THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE 2

Student Mentoring in the Community College

Student Population Served

Student Success is now considered a vital element in the community college role. We

must teach our students, and equipped them with skills to achieve their educational goal, as

well as their career goals thereby, surviving in the workplace. Therefore, proposing a holistic

approach to enhance student success that will target all students enrolling at Mohave

Community College (MCC). The proposed mentoring program will encourage participation

from the concurrent enrolled high school students, as well as students classified in the at-

risk category. Each student at registration will receive information regarding the program,

and encourage to participate when attending orientation.

Identified Need

The fact that certain groups of students desperately need interventions to enhance

their academic performance and increase their retention rates (Stromel, 2000). Thereby,

establishing the need to implementation and formulation a mentoring program. The program

has identified types of students who require assistance to achieve their goals consisting of

nontraditional adults; students in remedial studies; students exhibiting low classroom

participation; learners with low campus or community involvement; anyone who lacks

positive role models, and students complaining about never enough time to complete

assignments. Therefore, with the tremendous increase of nontraditional and remedial students

at MCC which, exhibit low motivation skills, time management abilities, and failure to

socialize (Campbell, Smith, Dugan, & Komives, 2012) the new mentoring program will be

designed to address their needs. The program will not only help such groups attain higher

motivation for learning but will also improve their interpersonal skills. Thereby, increasing

the colleges retention and graduation rate.

Issues/Trends to Impact Program

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In the recent past, most colleges have recorded high student dropout rates where most

students are abandoning their courses way before completion. However, despite the alarming

college dropout rates, institutions of higher learning remain adamant to investigate the causes

of the problem. Research indicates that the problem is attributable in part to test failures

which lead to frustrations among the students (Rumberger, 2001). One of the reasons why

most students fail is a lack of motivation towards school work coupled with the lack of

concentration among the students. A mentorship program may help avert the two mentioned

causes of failure by assessing each students weaknesses and devising strategies aimed at

lessening their impacts on the learners performances. Another trend that shapes the

implementation of this program is the poor class attendance experienced in most colleges

across the globe. Missing classes may be harmful to the student in that it may affect his or her

preparedness for the exams leading to failure. The mentorship program described in this

paper may be a positive strategy to ensure that the students remain in classes due to the close

monitoring by the mentor.

Description of Program

Objective/Mission

The mentoring program objective is to assist students in achieving their goals and not

just settle. Students often find it hard adapting to the new demands of juggling their academic

environment with life which will affect their academic performances. The mentoring program

will help student set priority through time management training, positive role models, career

preparation, and academic assistance thus improving MCCs retention rates. The mission

statement for this program will be, To provide a nurturing environment where the student

connects to the college, becoming empowered and motivated to succeed, and supported by

services that meet the students needs.

Participation of Mentor
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The position of the mentor will be satisfied by recruiting and training current students,

alumni, community volunteers, and staff. Being a mentor is not a job with many hidden

benefits such as supporting the next generation by leaving a legacy, personal growth,

professional distinction, improving leadership and management skills (Student Mentor,

2016). However, the most beneficial facet of the program would be the extreme satisfaction

when seeing one of the mentees walk to receive their diploma. The mentors will, therefore,

oversee the orientation of the mentees. The mentors will receive free training programs and

an annual monetary stipend.

Participation of Mentee

The mentees will be the greatest beneficiaries of the program by staying on track and

completing their desired goals. However, the program will enhance and build self-esteem,

self-motivation, be more motivated with academic and career success as well as learning

about the college and community (Ferris State University, 2016). The mentee will develop a

relationship that could last a lifetime, in most cases, the mentee goes on to become the next

generation mentor. The mentee will be challenged to confront personal, academic and

professional they might encounter and with the mentor's help and guidance of the mentor will

develop the skills to handle life challenges.

Required numbers of meetings per month

The mentors will be required to physically meet the mentee at least once a week to

discuss major issues affecting their daily lives. Additionally, the mentor will communicate

with the mentee at least once every day through email or test to monitor their progress. There

will also be a monthly mentoring meeting to access student advances and achievements in the

program and will be reviewed and evaluated with the campus Dean of Instruction and an

advising specialist.

Similar Programs at Other Institutions

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Today more colleges across the globe have realized the effectiveness of the

mentorship programs in improving the students outcomes and increasing the retention rates

(Stromel, 2000). Consequently, they have launched the programs in their respective

institutions to achieve the stated benefits. Pitt Community College, for example, has a

mentorship program named Way to Success where the college staff engages the students in

a mentorship aimed at increasing the retention rates (Pitt Community College, 2016).

Recently, the college introduced a peer to peer mentorship program that will see the senior

students mentor first-year students. Piedmont Community College also has a similar program

that goes by the name Minority Male Mentoring (3M). The program mainly focuses on

African American and minority males by offering them the necessary support with the aim of

sealing the gap in achievement between them and other students (Townsend, 2016). Lastly,

the peer mentorship program at Washington College consists of one peer mentor working

with 10-15 new students. In the group of mentoring environment, one mentor takes their

group of new students through the orientation process and for the preparation of the college

environment (Washington College, 2016). The colleges work with the core group structure.

Therefore, each student starts with a built-in group of friends; the college also tries to make

sure the first semester classes have someone from the group to establish a solid foundation.

Program Outcomes

The proposed mentoring program for MCC is to make the student feel engaged on

campus that will ultimately improve each student outcomes (Coles, 2011). Therefore improve

student success and increase retention. Then the program targets more of a holistic model

environment of education addressing the whole person not just academic development. The

journal article written by Gloria Crisp (2010) explains in her hypothesize with the presence of

continual support and a positive role would result in continuing their education. Most
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community colleges are fighting an uphill battle from the start, therefore why would we not

give them every tool available to succeed and achieve their goals and ambitions.

Assessment Methods

To effectively monitor the program, the mentors and mentee will be required to

establish desired aims and accomplishments at the start of the semester. The both parties will

complete a short checklist questionnaire after each meeting about the goals list. The mentor

will closely follow their mentees progress and report the same during the monthly

assessment meeting. In the meeting, each mentees questionnaire will examine, concerned of

the mentor will be addressed with feedback to explain any negative concerns. Among the

areas that will be assessed and included in the report are the students grades, class

attendance, and the general social life of the student in the campus. The program will be

effective if all the three criteria show positive results. The choice of the assesses criteria will

focus on the facts of the program targets improvement points of interpersonal skills, grades,

and the overall retention. Therefore, the criteria used will be helpful in establishing the

shortfalls in the program for possible adjustments.

Proposed Budget

As illustrated by Table 1 Budget Estimates, the program is expected to consume about

$100,000 in its initial start-up year phase. The stated amount will be used to buy the

necessary equipment, train the mentors, and to pay the mentors. The mentor will receive an

allotted stipend at the end of each semester by the Mentor Handbook. As one-on-one mentor

stipend will consist of $300, however, a mentor working in a group environment up to 10

mentees will receive a stipend of $500. The proposed budget is little in comparison to the

student retention and completion it will receive. The budget funding will come from a

combination of the Student Services Budget and Academic Support budget.

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Table 1: Budget Estimates

Student Mentoring in the Community College

Estimated Annual Startup Budget
Fall 2017 Spring 2018
Annual Budget $ 100,000 $ 50,000 $ 50,000
Equipment/Material $ (50,000.00) $ (25,000) $ (25,000)
Stipends/
20 at $300
one on one $ (22,000.00) $ (11,000) $ (11,000)
10 at $500
one to group
Training $ (18,000.00) $ (9,000) $ (9,000)

Others $ (8,000.00) $ (4,000) $ (4,000)

Total $ 2,000.00 $ 1,000.00 $ 1,000.00

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References

Campbell, C. M., Smith, M., Dugan, J. P., & Komives, S. R. (2012). Mentors and College

Student Leadership Outcomes: The Importance of Position and Process. Review of

Higher Education, 35(4), 595-625. doi:10.1353/rhe.2012.0037

Coles, A. (2011). The Role of Mentoring in College Access and Success. Washington:

Institute for Higher Education. Retrieved October 2016

Crisp, G. (2010). The Impact of Mentoring on the Success of Community College Students.

The Review of Higher Education, 34(1), 39-60. doi:10.1353/rhe.2010.0003

El Paso Community College. (2016). Mentoring Program. Retrieved October 2016, from El

Paso Community College:

http://www.epcc.edu/MentoringProgram/Pages/default.aspx

Ferris State University. (2016). Program Benefits. Retrieved October 2016, from Ferris State

University: http://www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/colleges/university/peer/program-

benefits.htm

Hayes, D. (2008, July 24). Community College Mentoring Programs Help Students Stay

Engaged. Retrieved October 2016, from Diverse Issues in Higher Education:

http://diverseeducation.com/article/11467/

Pitt Community College. (2016). College Launching New Mentoring Program to Help

Ensure First-Year Student Success. Retrieved October 2016, from Pitt Community

College: http://www.pittcc.edu/news/news-articles/2016-news-archive/160816-

bruisers-crew-training.htm

Rumberger, R. W. (2001, May). Why Students Drop Out of School and What Can be Done.

Retrieved October 2016, from eScholarship:

https://escholarship.org/uc/item/58p2c3wp#page-1
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Stromel, L. K. (2000). Increasing Retention and Success Through Mentoring. New Directions

for Community Colleges, 2000(112), pp. 55-62. doi:10.1002/cc.11205

Student Mentor. (2016). Benefits of Mentorship. Retrieved October 2016, from Student

Mentor: http://www.studentmentor.org/how-it-works/mentee-and-mentor-benefits/

Townsend, E. (2016, March 21). Piedmont Community Colleges mentoring program event

makes connections and provides life lessons for students. Retrieved October 2016,

from Piedmont Community College:

http://www.piedmontcc.edu/news/Article/8483/Piedmont-Community-College-s-

mentoring-program-event-makes-connections-and-prov

Washington College. (2016). Peer Mentor Program. Retrieved October 2016, from

Washington College: https://www.washcoll.edu/about/first-year-programs-and-

orientation/peer-mentor-program.php