KANSAN.COM
New faculty-to-student mentoring program gives failing CLAS students another chance at success
TANNER HASSELL
@Thassell17
Alex Robinson/KANSAN Professor Jennifer Hamer, Chair of the Department of American Studies, set up a mentoring program to assist CLAS students who are failing or having academic issues.
A new faculty mentoring program implemented this semester aims to give students who don't meet University GPA standards another chance at success.
The University's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences which enacted the program this semester designed the program to provide struggling undergraduate students within the College individualized help from a faculty mentor, according to the CLAS web page. It also gives students access to an "enhanced" set of resources to employ for academic success.
"The issue of retention is not a new issue on this campus. Administrators have known for almost a decade about this issue," Hamer said.
Jennifer Hamer, chair of the Department of American Studies, said the program was created during winter break this year to help address low retention rates within the college.
The retention rate for freshman in 2008 was 77.7 percent, according to data from the Office of Institutional Research and Planning. This is the lowest rate among other institutions in the American Association of Universities. However, in 2014, the University retention rate for freshman rose to 80 percent.
The response to these numbers led to the creation of the faculty mentoring program.
Hamer said between this year's fall and spring semesters, a group of faculty and staff in the college came together to figure out how to respond to student protests as well as the overall climate on campus.
"Our concern about students was a catalyst for talking about retention within the College," Hamer said. "We were very fortunate to have over 130 faculty members from the College sign up for the program almost immediately."
Hamer also said the new dean Carl Lejuez, who was hired in Sept. 2015, was willing to make changes, which was instrumental to create the program.
Lejuez said upon arriving at the University, faculty and staff expressed interest in doing more to help students succeed academically.
Hamer serves as the faculty liaison for the program and said the 150 students who chose to enter the program are to meet with their mentor twice during the semester and are encouraged to continue meeting with their mentor throughout their education.
"One of my top priorities coming in was to focus on the student academic experience, including support for maintaining good academic standing and timely progress toward graduation," Lejuez said. "As a first-generation student myself, I know faculty mentorship was the one thing that kept me afloat in college."
Hamer also said the program is designed not only to give students one-on-one attention through a mentor but also to give them better access to other services at the University.
"One of the things that you find when students are not doing well is they begin to disengage from campus," Hamer said. "You won't see them at events, you may not see them in class."
Hammer added: "Not only are they tired from working, they just don't feel like there's not much more they can do. There also can be a sort of disconnect between the academic side and student services for these students."
Hamer said advisers, faculty mentors and a faculty liaison are all available to support the student. These people will help students navigate and take advantage of the academic and student services resources.
"Our students are extremely motivated and talented, but there are many reasons why they may struggle," Lejuez said. "One of the top reasons is that a large majority of our students hold a job in addition to their studies."
He added: "For others it's the absence of someone they can turn to who understands the pressures and challenges of the college experience. Given all these factors, the program just seemed like an obvious response we could make immediately to help students thrive in the College and at KU."
Lejuez said that while the program was offered to failing students for this semester, it could be expanded to encompass all students in the future.
"Currently we are focused on struggling students, but as the program grows we'd like expand mentorship for all students," he said. "Additionally, we will work closely with many of the other outstanding programs in the college and on campus to provide an integrated and comprehensive way to help our students succeed.
"Long-term, we want to develop proactive programs that help struggling students as early as we can so they can avoid academic probation and dismissal altogether. The hope is that the program can have multiple levels of mentorship including peers, faculty and alumni and can be tied closely to our existing strengths in advising," Lejuez said.
Edited by Skylar Rolstad
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