The Mentoring Institute occasionally invites the UNM and surrounding New Mexico communities to participate in surveys. Active survey links and compilation archives are documented here.
In the spring semester of 2008, the Institute conducted a web-based survey to inventory established mentoring programs across the UNM campus — spanning schools, academic colleges, student groups, and administrative departments. The goals for the survey were:
To identify and become familiar with the existing mentoring programs the Mentoring Institute serves.
To facilitate connections among various mentoring programs as part of fostering a healthy mentoring culture at UNM.
The questionnaire had 13 items that allowed respondents to outline their structures. With 176 usable responses, 105 unique mentoring programs were identified and documented on campus.
There were 119 responses to this item: 49 formal, 41 supported, and 29 informal programs. Respondents were more likely to report structured operations once a department established mentoring guidelines.
Academic programs (82) are housed in schools and departments for faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students. Student Organizations (12) include mentoring in chartered student groups, honor societies, and Greek life. Student Services (17) provide mentoring to student groups. Community programs (11) focus on outreach. Athletic programs (2) are directed at student-athletes.
Academic units were typically connected with academic mentoring programs. Academically oriented mentoring programs were not evenly distributed among the twelve schools/colleges. The College of Arts and Sciences had the most due to its scale, while schools with more homogeneous scopes had less. Fine Arts reported a surprisingly small number of programs.
There were 116 usable responses, with half indicating that a program involved multiple pairing types. Faculty-student mentoring relationships are the most common, or at least the most recognized and reported. While faculty/student mentoring remains dominant, it shows a possible need to promote mentoring among other groups.
Figures 4 and 5 illustrate the numbers of reported programs catering to minority groups and groups based on academic standing, respectively. The Minorities Graph represents groups broadly oriented to racial/ethnic minorities, women, and differently enabled groups.
