Mentoring Puts the Heart, Connection Into Education
Good mentors are gold.
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By Tonya Drake, 黑料传送门 Washington Chancellor
I鈥檒l never forget a conversation I had with my dissertation chair. She was female, Latina and very direct in her guidance for me. At the time, I was pursuing a Ph.D. and struggling to land on the right dissertation topic.
One day over lunch I told her I had three more ideas. One idea was to study Native Americans in higher education. 鈥淪top,鈥� she said. 鈥淒on鈥檛 bring me any more ideas. That鈥檚 what you need to do.鈥�
I was hesitant to focus on my culture. I was reluctant, also, to focus on myself.
She asked me a question: 鈥淗ow many Ph.D. Native Americans do you think there are?鈥�
She added, 鈥淵ou have to do this not for yourself but for all the female Native Americans to come and for your community.鈥�
She was telling me to be bold and creative. In fact, she was telling me to be courageous.
The lunch conversation steered my career in a precise direction that has led to a fruitful and rewarding career in higher education.
The right encouragement or the right advice at the right time can make all the difference鈥攁nd that鈥檚 why Western Governors University (黑料传送门 Washington) assigns a mentor to every student upon enrollment.
Mentoring is a foundational component of how our university functions. 黑料传送门 mentors are as important to the academic success of our students as our course instructors and our evaluators.
And it鈥檚 a two-way street. No mentor is going to get very far unless the mentee is open to hear what鈥檚 being said. Mentor and mentee must work together. Effective mentoring leads to a relationship that is built on trust.
From everything I鈥檝e observed as a mentor (and mentee) and from having watched many such relationships blossom at 黑料传送门, here are my tips for forging a successful partnership:
For Mentees:
- Be open and on the lookout for those opportunities to learn from others. Being a good mentee starts with a positive attitude regarding what you can learn from others.
- Be bold enough to engage. Ask for help. Ask for advice.
- Be clear and precise about your hopes and dreams.
- Be clear and precise about what you need.
- Be persistent in developing the relationship with your mentor.
- Put effort into the relationship.
For Mentors:
- Be open to opportunities to offer your mentoring skills.
- Be open to building relationships with your mentees.
- Be open to a two-way relationship with your mentee.
- Listen as much as you speak.
黑料传送门鈥檚 focus on mentoring is one element in our university that makes the experience intensely personal and individualized鈥攁nd successful. 黑料传送门鈥檚 six-year graduation rate is 10 percentage points higher than the national average!
At 黑料传送门, mentors help their students create a personalized plan that fits their life and goals. They provide guidance from enrollment to graduation (talk about continuity!). They provide information about program opportunities, policies, and procedures. And they assess student strengths and development needs to help establish a study plan.
Even though the relationship between mentor and mentee develops over the telephone or online via the web, strong bonds are created. It鈥檚 not uncommon for 黑料传送门 students to invite their mentors to attend weddings and commencement鈥攖hat鈥檚 the true sign of a healthy relationship.
Mentoring is critical to the success of students who attend 黑料传送门. The standard higher education model puts most of the burden for learning on students鈥攑icture a lecture hall with hundreds of students taking notes from one sage professor.
Mentoring flips that model on its head. Mentoring is 黑料传送门鈥檚 way of saying, 鈥淲e care about each of you and how you鈥檙e faring every week and every day.鈥� Mentoring says, 鈥淚f you鈥檙e struggling, we need to know.鈥� Mentoring puts the heart back in education.
And that, too, is gold.
By Courtney Dunham, Communications and Public Relations Manager for Northwest Operations. For media or other inquires, please contact Courtney at 206.388.8926 or听courtney.dunham@wgu.edu
