Two objectives that are discernable with regards to the mentoring of undergraduates and that are also important to public institutions of higher learning deal with student retention and success. Despite this fact, the literature on the subject appears to indicate an absence of theory integration to the design of mentor training programs with regards to factors that can impede the retention and success of undergraduates. Though a considerable amount of research has been done concerning the factors that can influence student retention and success at institutions of higher learning, little or no work has been done to consolidate both of these bodies of knowledge into one comprehensive framework. To remedy such a need, this paper forwards an integrative model of student departure. The value of the model is in its scope to addressing factors that can impede undergraduate retention and success at institutions of higher learning. While the model was originally designed to conduct research, it can also be used to train employees such as undergraduate mentors regarding the factors that can impede student retention and success at institutions of higher learning.

This article will provide insight into the literature regarding the implementation of service-learning within physical education teacher education (PETE) programs in general, and highlight the uniqueness of the Wellness Activities & Lifestyle Knowledge (WALK) mentoring component incorporated within the Elementary School Physical Education Pedagogy course at Coastal Carolina University in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Alignment of the WALK program with candidate preparation, according to the guidelines set forth by the National Association of Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) and the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) will be discussed. Information regarding the training and placement of mentors, along with the challenges, changes and successes of the program will also be discussed.

Queensborough Community College is dedicated to developing well-rounded students who exemplify academic excellence, global awareness and lifelong learning. Recognizing the pivotal role mentoring plays in higher education, during spring 2008, through financial support provided by a grant under the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006 administered by the New York State Education Department, and private funding from JPMorgan Chase Foundation, the College launched an ambitious mentoring program for Career Technical Education students to address the need to establish connections that can provide pathways to employment. The Alumni Mentoring Program, now starting its second year, is part of a major effort that has been established to provide a seamless connection between students’ academic goals and the career paths they pursue. The economically disadvantaged and first-generation students who make up the majority of Queensborough’s population typically have a more difficult time making these connections and forming strong networks in the community. Therefore, the Queensborough Community College mentoring program invites alumni who have overcome many of the social, educational, and motivational obstacles which prevent students from graduation to provide this needed guidance and support to these undergraduates.

In 1985, I was finishing my Engineering degree at New Mexico State University, and began looking around at the employment opportunities. With my focus on hydraulic structures, I had decided that public service was the right place for me. As I looked around at what businesses and federal agencies provided, I was impressed by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). I began working for the USACE in Seattle Washington in 1986. Now, 22 years later, I still believe that this agency maintains a high level of focus and investment in developing our employees, from the day they first step in the door, until the day they retire.  USACE provides a comprehensive training and development programs for engineering graduates that tours the new engineer through the life cycle of projects (planning, design, construction, and operations) of the agency. After a year or two of training the new engineer has a holistic perspective of what services the Corps of Engineers provides to our customers. This is the very beginning of learning and development within the Corps. As that employee grows, there will be opportunities to improve their technical skills, keep up with new technologies, and learn and develop leadership skills at many levels.

In this paper I share with you the objectives, structure, and variety, across USACE, of our Leadership Development program (LDP). I will share with you my own experiences, having been through this program, and how it has changed my life and focus. I am now an instructor, facilitator, coach and mentor for a portion of both the Level 2 and Level 3 programs and will share with you some of the challenges that we face, as we strive to improve this program each year. I will show you how mentoring is a huge part of this program, and why this part is what makes it successful.

This paper will examine the literature on mentoring for organizational learning and the development of a Mentoring Culture. Boleman & Deal’s analytical model is used to identify the organizational requirements in creating a mentoring culture. Through four different mentoring approaches: functional, engagement, evolutionary, and revolutionary mentoring, the contributions of mentoring to facilitate individual and group learning are addressed.

“Imagine how dynamic our economy would become if more companies were open to new ideas, if more of them truly understood how to get the best from everyone.”

Early theories of creative problem solving focused on the stages through which an individual must progress in order to produce a creative solution or outcome. In 1923, Graham Wallas presented his theory, which consisted of four stages: Preparation (definition of issue, observation, and study); Incubation (laying the issue aside for a time); Illumination (the moment when a new idea finally emerges); and Verification (checking it out) . Other theorists, Barron , Rossman , Osborn , and others followed him by presenting other stage theories that were primarily linear. None of these much deviated from what Wallas originally postulated. The implied theory behind Wallas’ model, as well as most of the other early models of creative process, is that creative thinking is a subconscious process that cannot be directed, and that creative and analytical thinking are complementary . Notably, each of these models focused on the individual. It was not until the early 1980s when researchers began to consider other factors and how each could help or hinder the creative process.

This research paper focuses on race, gender, and self identity when looking at mentoring students of color in the 21st century. A key question that has arisen within institutions of higher education is, does it matter if an individual is black or white or the same ethnicity in general, when cultivating a mentor / mentee relationship of the 21st century? This issue is one to evoke an in-depth conversation of asking a critical question if one’s race plays a major role in the academic success of students of color in higher education. Are the ingredients to a healthy, nurturing, and successful mentoring relationship those of caring, investment, time and energy, and as long as one is of good will and provides these ingredients to a student of color, race becomes a none issue? These questions are examined in a narrative, exploratory fashion. This paper will examine the current research on this topic, especially from students who have attended and students who are currently enrolled at a predominately White institution of higher education, particularly examining studies that took place in the southwestern region of the United States of America, who are in active pursuit of obtaining a bachelor’s or an advance degrees. This paper will explore the issues of ethnicity and class dynamics through the lens of students of color. There are many issues that are good, there are many issues that are challenging, but in the end, there are many issues that hold a futuristic light for students of color in the 21st century.

In the Spring 2008 semester, the Mentoring Institute at The University of New Mexico conducted a Web-based survey intended to provide an inventory of mentoring program at the university's main campus in Albuquerque. It sought information from the university community on mentoring programs - their participants, structures, history and preparation of mentors and mentees - in academic colleges, schools, departments and programs, non-academic university offices, and student organizations. The goal was for the Mentoring Institute to be more aware of and familiar with the existing mentoring programs it was established to serve. Subsequently, the Institute would be better prepared to facilitate connections among several disparate mentoring programs at a single university, seen as a significant part of its mission to foster a mentoring culture at the university. The purpose of this paper is to report a summary of the mentoring program inventory survey, including descriptive statistics, and to begin to reflect on strategic implications of the survey for the UNM Mentoring Institute and its mission to the university. The significance of this survey is its ability to provide both a count of an institution's mentoring programs – although that count is certainly partial, since, depending on a variety of factors, about a 21% response rate can be expected for Web-based surveys using only e-mail invitation (Cook, Heath, & Thompson, 2000; Kaplowitz, Hadlock, & Levine, 2004) – and a view of existing mentoring efforts, their distribution in a particular large university, and an idea of what types of programs are most valued, needed and successful.