Restructuring the Role of Faculty in the Advising Process at a Community College

My goal in this project was to restructure the faculty’s role in student advising by developing a faculty-student mentorship program. I focused on three areas within the study: determining the role of faculty as mentors, describing how students would be assigned to faculty, and determining how to train faculty in the new role. I conducted a mixed methods study to gauge faculty views on advising and mentoring. Results showed that faculty supported mentoring of students, which has been shown to improve student academic performance. I recommended that faculty meet with their mentees three times throughout the academic year. Faculty and students could meet more often if both agreed. This recommendation allows for a mix of structured meetings (the three mandatory meetings) and flexibility (for students who want to meet more frequently). The number of mentees per faculty member should be no more than 15. Some mentees may not take advantage of the program, but the number of assigned mentees is small enough that if all did seek mentoring, the faculty would be able to provide adequate support. Faculty should record their mentoring meetings in the appropriate electronic program. To best serve students, communication between faculty mentors and advisors is key; therefore, faculty should be diligent in recording their meetings so students can be supported by both mentor and advisor