Work in Progress: Developing a Model for Student-led Peer Mentorship Programs

Krystal S. Corbett; Katie Evans; Stacey McAdams; Julie Gaudin; Madison Abigail Walker; Tyler Scott Fontenot

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Conference: 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Publication Date: June 23, 2018
Start Date: June 23, 2018
End Date: July 27, 2018
Conference Session: First-year Programs Division Postcard Session 1: Retention and Student Success Strategies
Tagged Division: First-Year Programs
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 8
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--31281
Permanent URL: https://sftp.asee.org/31281
Download Count: 374

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Paper Authors

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Krystal S. Corbett Louisiana Tech University

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Dr. Krystal Corbett is a lecturer for the Mechanical Engineering Department at Louisiana Tech University. She teaches in their prestigious Living with the Lab first year program as well as other mechanical engineering related courses. She received her B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering (2008/2010), M.S. in Mathematics (2012), and Ph.D. in Engineering Education (2012) at Louisiana Tech University. Formerly, she was the Director of Curricula at the Cyber Innovation Center (CIC) where she managed various educational enterprises.

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Katie Evans Louisiana Tech University

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Dr. Katie Evans is the Associate Dean of Strategic Initiatives, the Entergy Corp LP&L/NOPSI #3 & #4 Professor of Mathematics, and the Academic Director of Mathematics and Statistics and Online programs. She is the Director of the Integrated STEM Education Research Center (ISERC) and the Director of Louisiana Tech’s Office for Women in Science and Engineering (OWISE). She earned her Ph.D. in Mathematics and M.S. in Mathematics at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA. Her research interests include distributed parameter control modeling and simulation, dynamic modeling of physical systems, and STEM education. She has published 20 peer-reviewed publications in these areas, and her research has been funded by the NSF, AFRL, and LA-BOR. She also serves as an Associate Editor for the American Control Conference and the Conference on Decision and Control, two premier conferences in the controls community. She is a member of the IEEE, MAA, SIAM, and ASEE.

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Abstract

The first few years of college can be difficult for students to navigate. Students are experiencing a new level of independence and learning how to balance their professional, social, and academic lives. In many cases, mentorship programs have been shown to help students manage this transition. An added benefit of peer mentoring is the opportunity for students, both mentees and mentors, to enhance their professional skills, e.g. communication, time management, ethics, collaboration, and creativity.

At Louisiana Tech University, it was observed that many of the student professional organizations in the College of Engineering and Science (COES) had informal mentorship programs, but the organizations lacked access to formal training in mentorship or help in developing a structure for a mentorship program. With this realization by faculty, COES saw an opportunity to help support the student organizations by providing training in mentoring best practices, aiding in developing their organization-specific structured mentoring program, as well as providing funds to support their initiatives.

From the College’s perspective, such student organization-driven mentorship programs will help with retention, engage students in the college, build a community of peers, and develop current and future leaders in engineering and science. The participating student organizations send at least two members to a training session, develop a structured peer-mentorship model for their organization, submit a quarterly status report, and submit a proposal for obtaining funding through the college. This structure, with these specific requirements, provides the organization leaders with the added benefit of experience in proposal and report writing, which will be a valuable skill both academically and professionally.

As this is the inaugural year of the program, this Work in Progress will discuss the model developed by the faculty to implement the program with the student organizations. Preliminary data from proposals and status reports of participating student organizations will be analyzed. The goal of the analysis will be to address the successes and any shortcomings of the peer-mentorship training model as well as individual student organization successes or areas for improvement. Future goals and intents for expanded studies stemming from this Work in Progress will also be discussed As this is the inaugural year of the program, this Work in Progress will discuss the model developed by the faculty to implement the program with the student organizations. Preliminary data from proposals and status reports of participating student organizations will be analyzed. The goal of the analysis will be to address the successes and any shortcomings of the peer-mentorship training model as well as individual student organization successes or areas for improvement. Future goals and intents for expanded studies stemming from this Work in Progress will also be discussed.

Citation
Format

Corbett, K. S., & Evans, K., & McAdams, S., & Gaudin, J., & Walker, M. A., & Fontenot, T. S. (2018, June), Work in Progress: Developing a Model for Student-led Peer Mentorship Programs Paper presented at 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--31281

TY - CPAPER
AB - The first few years of college can be difficult for students to navigate. Students are experiencing a new level of independence and learning how to balance their professional, social, and academic lives. In many cases, mentorship programs have been shown to help students manage this transition. An added benefit of peer mentoring is the opportunity for students, both mentees and mentors, to enhance their professional skills, e.g. communication, time management, ethics, collaboration, and creativity.

At Louisiana Tech University, it was observed that many of the student professional organizations in the College of Engineering and Science (COES) had informal mentorship programs, but the organizations lacked access to formal training in mentorship or help in developing a structure for a mentorship program. With this realization by faculty, COES saw an opportunity to help support the student organizations by providing training in mentoring best practices, aiding in developing their organization-specific structured mentoring program, as well as providing funds to support their initiatives.

From the College’s perspective, such student organization-driven mentorship programs will help with retention, engage students in the college, build a community of peers, and develop current and future leaders in engineering and science. The participating student organizations send at least two members to a training session, develop a structured peer-mentorship model for their organization, submit a quarterly status report, and submit a proposal for obtaining funding through the college. This structure, with these specific requirements, provides the organization leaders with the added benefit of experience in proposal and report writing, which will be a valuable skill both academically and professionally.

As this is the inaugural year of the program, this Work in Progress will discuss the model developed by the faculty to implement the program with the student organizations. Preliminary data from proposals and status reports of participating student organizations will be analyzed. The goal of the analysis will be to address the successes and any shortcomings of the peer-mentorship training model as well as individual student organization successes or areas for improvement. Future goals and intents for expanded studies stemming from this Work in Progress will also be discussed
As this is the inaugural year of the program, this Work in Progress will discuss the model developed by the faculty to implement the program with the student organizations. Preliminary data from proposals and status reports of participating student organizations will be analyzed. The goal of the analysis will be to address the successes and any shortcomings of the peer-mentorship training model as well as individual student organization successes or areas for improvement. Future goals and intents for expanded studies stemming from this Work in Progress will also be discussed.

AU - Krystal S. Corbett
AU - Katie Evans
AU - Stacey McAdams
AU - Julie Gaudin
AU - Madison Abigail Walker
AU - Tyler Scott Fontenot
CY - Salt Lake City, Utah
DA - 2018/06/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Work in Progress: Developing a Model for Student-led Peer Mentorship Programs
UR - https://sftp.asee.org/31281
DO - 10.18260/1-2--31281
ER -