Tag Archives: Mentoring College Students

Illumination!

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Creative ideasAn MBA student of mine scored 28 out of 100 on the first test I gave in class. Clearly, she wasn’t grasping the concepts tested. I asked her if she would meet with me an hour before class every week so that I could work with her to do better in the course. She agreed and in our first meeting, it became clear that she had been working hard but not very smart. She was struggling to solve problems because she didn’t understand what she was reading in the text.

In my book, College in Four Years, I teach students how to use outlining to improve understanding. I was sure knowing that technique would help this student.

“Read a page in the book, then close it and write a summary of what you just read without using the author’s words. If you can’t do that, either you don’t remember what you read or didn’t understand it. If that’s the case, I want you to read the page again, and outline it again until you have completely covered the important points in the chapter.” She looked at me skeptically and I already knew what she was going to ask

“Yes,” I assured her, “reading your text this way will take much longer than just reading the book. But when you’re finished, you will have a full grasp of the concepts in the material and you’ll also have a custom outline that you can use for review before an exam.”

The next time I saw her, I saw a different student.

“I really understand the material. It makes sense to me now!” I asked her to tell me what she knew about the concepts we were studying – not the mechanics of problem solutions. She was able to discuss the concepts and relate them to each other and to appropriate problem solutions. I knew instantly she had mastered the material. She was overjoyed that she now knew how to study so effectively.

“It’s exactly the same material I used to find so confusing – but know I completely understand it. I always knew what to study, I just didn’t know how. And I can use this outlining technique in your class and a lot of my other classes! I got this, Dr. Sawyer, I got this!”

Students like this one are the reason I teach. When a teacher sees a light go on in a student – when they understand, take charge and master difficult material – it is the reward every teacher is striving for. We live to see that light. I know that I helped change the direction of my student’s educational future; for her and for me, nothing is better than that!

Advisors Must Mentor More Than A Student’s Academic Experience

Coaching, First Generation College Students, Higher Education, Mentoring Students, Success In College,

Young man talking with father in parkEffective mentoring requires more than monitoring the academic part of a student’s college experience. The advising, advocacy and apprenticeship mentoring process must include feedback from the student to assess mentoring’s effectiveness. Each student has unique academic, social and emotional needs that must be addressed within the framework of the overall mentoring process. This requires developing a mentor-mentee relationship based on trust and respect and must encompass the influence of cultural and value influences, especially at the beginning of the relationship. These influences should be key factors in matching mentor and mentee; considering the academic, personal, cultural and socio economic aspects of the student’s experiences and how these factors interact with each other within the student’s on campus experience.

This is especially true for first generation and students from socio-economic backgrounds that are not in the majority on a particular campus. How does a mentor go about assisting a student with the social tools necessary to succeed in college without tacitly encouraging that student to adopt a culture that may be foreign to them? College is an acculturation process that prepares students for the broad experience they will encounter in the world after college.

Part of the mentor’s responsibility in the acculturation process is assessment of the student’s values and priorities and how they transition from where they’re from to where they plan on going. It can’t just be making sure a student knows how to speak and act in the presence of professors and peers. True mentoring requires knowing the student’s background, experience and objectives; without this information it will be difficult to know how to approach the student as a mentor so that the advice and counsel shared resonates with that student. Look holistically at the student when mentoring or advising – personalize the experience for both the mentee and the mentor; that is the only way to be effective.

College Is An Entrepreneurial Venture

Coaching, First Generation College Students, Higher Education, Mentoring Students, Non-traditional Students, Success In College, The Costs and Benefits of Higher Education, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , ,
Josh Smith, Granville Sawyer and Molly Matthews on Biz Talk with Josh
Josh Smith, Granville Sawyer and Molly Matthews on Biz Talk with Josh

Molly Mahoney Matthews and Dr. Granville M. Sawyer were recent guests for two shows on CBS Radio’s Biz Talk With Josh. Host Joshua I. Smith interviewed Matthews and Sawyer and the topic was Bookends, an innovative approach to college as an entrepreneurial venture that prepares college students to graduate in four years with business and entrepreneurial skills. Bookends pairs the higher education experience of Dr. Granville M. Sawyer, Jr. with the entrepreneurial/business management success of Molly Mahoney Matthews using the information and insight from Molly Matthews’ book, Unsinkable: Find A Job, Create A Career, Build A Business and Dr. Granville Sawyer’s book College in Four Years: Making Every Semester Count.

Click the player to listen to an excerpt from the show:

Interested in learning more about Bookends for your organization or institution? Complete the contact form below.

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Five Tips to Help College Freshmen Start Smart

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theory into practiceThis fall more than 8-million freshmen* started their college careers on campuses all across the country. The first semester will be one of the most exciting in their college career; it will also be their most difficult. Everything is new, different and confusing. They are in a place where they have so much in common with so many people; there are bound to be distractions. Then there’s the added pressure of being responsible for figuring everything out for themselves.

As a university professor and advisor, I’ve greeted 33 freshmen classes so I know a few things about helping incoming students start college the right way. Here are five tips that will help set priorities and give this year’s freshman class insight into the smart way to start their college career:

  1. Start off with the right attitude, know how special college is. Sixty-eight percent of college age students in the U.S. start college and four years later, only 19 percent graduate with a degree.* You’re special – act like it.
  2. You are going to have a lot of questions – get good answers. Bad information can derail your college career. Get accurate information by going to the source: not a friend, Facebook, Twitter or something overheard in the student center. Advisors, professors and school administrators have the right advice and information. You may have responsibility for your college career but your advisor will help you take control of your college experience. They can help you figure out the classes you need, and assist you in scheduling classes so you stay on track throughout your college career.
  3. The catalog for your incoming freshman class is your contractual agreement with the college or university; it gives you a clear path to graduation. If you haven’t looked at it– now would be a good time! Your catalogue clearly specifies all the conditions for graduation and the right sequence enabling you to graduate in four years. Read it, no, study it as soon as you arrive on campus and refer to it when you plan your classes with your advisor.
  4. Make sure your teachers know you. Be more than a name on the class roll — put a face, personality and potential to your name. Professors respond better (as in grading) to a   person. In your first semester (and every semester thereafter), see every teacher from   every course outside of your class time. Office hours are one of the most under used resources available to students. Most of the money you spend on college goes to pay your professors, so get your money’s worth by getting some one-on-one attention.
  5. Run with the Big Dogs. The Big Dogs are not the students that are most attractive, socially popular, most personable or the best dressed. The Big Dogs are the best students in your classes and they always eat first! They eat the professor’s attention, the best internships, the best jobs, salaries and the best opportunities in life.  

These five tips will get a student going, but graduation is the goal. Start smart and use these resources to stay smart every semester thereafter.

*U. S. Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics – Projections of Education Statistics to 2020, 39th Edition