January is National Mentoring Month; a time to recognize those who mentor, to learn about mentoring, to connect and re-connect with local mentoring programs, and to thank your mentors.
Mentoring programs can be found in nearly every domain including community, education, religion, government, and business. Common mentoring efforts focus on education and academic success; career entry and advancement; management and leadership development.
While many mentoring programs focus on supporting youth and young adults, programs have evolved to include many other periods of life including the transition to retirement, next life chapters and caregiving.
Mentoring is an ideal activity for retirees as it involves a more experienced person sharing their experience, advising and guiding a less experienced person in a skill or role. A unique feature of mentoring is that it involves cultivating a recognized and ongoing relationship between the mentor and the mentee.
Opportunities for mentoring abound on college and university campuses. Mentoring programs are offered by several other campus offices including academic affairs and other academic departments, student services, internship centers, and offices that coordinate community partnerships. Typical retirement organization mentoring activities include student academic and retention mentoring, mentoring younger faculty members, and mentoring staff and faculty in their transition to retirement and post-retirement.
Here are a few examples of how AROHE member retirement organizations are engaged in mentoring:
- The University of Minnesota Retirees Association works through their University Retirees Volunteer Center to help retirees connect to mentoring opportunities both on campus and in the community. Click on the link to see a news article on one of their mentoring programs.
- Retirees at Arizona State University participate in several of the University’s many mentoring programs; click on the link for an example of an ASU resource page about mentoring.
- The Emory University Emeritus College's Faculty Retirment Mentoring Program assists pre-retirees with the anticipated lifestyle, social, emotional, and phychological transition to a fulfilling life in retirement.
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Clemson University Emeritus College Mentoring Programs: Past, Present, and Future
Clemson Emeritus College’s Conversations with International Students (CIS) program, started in academic year 2014-15, continues to assist international graduate students improve their English-speaking abilities and to understand cultural nuances. Emeritus faculty mentors meet weekly (or more often as needed) one-on-one with their assigned students.
With the leadership of the Undergraduate Support Committee, a developing program connects Emeriti faculty with two undergraduate student populations: new freshmen and transfer students. The first steps have been to work with the Assistant Director of Transfer Academic Programs to establish need and build rapport through virtual forums in which Emeritus Faculty answer questions from freshmen and transfer students. Clemson is developing a mentor description and guidelines and plan to fully implement one-on-one mentoring in fall 2022.
Clemson’s newest venture is to discuss options for establishing a mentoring program for SC inmates who are enrolled in college courses, again using the CIS program as a model. The most common option for incarcerated individuals to take college-level courses is through paper-based correspondence courses. A mentoring program has the potential to provide meaningful support for these individuals and could enhance their chances for success.
The Clemson Emeritus College actively recruits mentors for both student and faculty mentoring programs. Click here for an example of their recruitment for mentors for international students.
For more information, contact the chair of the Undergraduate Support Committee, Elaine Richardson at erchrds@clemson.edu.
Case study: Emeriti as Mentors: Intergenerational Poster Session, University of California Berkeley Retirement Center
Two goals of the Emeriti Academy (EA) were to: (1) create a unique event that emphasizes community building and (2) promote the EA’s potential for facilitating reciprocal sharing of expertise between learners of all ages and engage actively with the University of California (UC) Berkeley emeriti faculty.
When UC Berkeley began exploring EA mentoring opportunities, there was concern about engaging emeriti to serve as mentors. The campus undergraduate mentoring program was established by paying graduate students to serve as mentors; these mentors were previously mentees and much closer in age to the undergraduate students. Suggesting that emeriti volunteer as mentors was a challenge to an already successful model; and it was a risk as there was concern that retired faculty may not relate to students. The EA had to show the value of intergenerational collaboration.
The EA produced a virtual gathering and poster session with students and members of the EA in Spring 2021. The May event showcased projects that were completed by students as part of a course or research project conducted by EA members in the 2020-21 academic year. Through offering an interactive, celebratory virtual gathering, where the students had an opportunity to give a capstone presentation along with ample time for discussion and idea exchange with emeriti and the larger retiree community, the EA was able to generate tangible evidence of the value of emeriti contributions and increase the number of campus departments interested in partnering on future EA projects.
During the event, students shared how much they enjoyed working with emeriti and how they benefited from emeriti being more available than active faculty. Emeriti emphasized how they enjoyed getting to know the students as well as how impressed they were by students’ dedication and what they had learned. Following the event, EA staff connected with two key campus administrators who attended the event. During the session one administrator shared, “This event strengthened my belief that emeriti have a lot to offer as mentors to undergraduates.” In the participant evaluation, EA staff received several comments about the strength of these relationships. When asked what participants found most interesting/informative, responses included:
- “I loved seeing the great connection that the students and emeriti made and how appreciative they were of each other, and the great work the students produced.”
- “…The interaction between the professors and their students, and the dedication of both parties.”
- “…The mentor and mentee dynamics, different insights and skills from different generations.”
The EA planned two sessions for Fall 2021 with students from two different programs on campus to partner with emeriti and practice mock “office hours” to help minimize barriers that may prevent students from going to office hours. For more information, contact Sigrid Mueller at sigridmueller@berkeley.edu or visit emeritiacademy.berkeley.edu.
Professors Emeriti: A Neglected Mentor on University Campuses
Post-secondary institutions face a series of common challenges that will shape higher education in the twenty-first century. In order to maintain quality faculties, administrative leaders must develop compensation policies and employment practices that are appropriate for the new economic and demographic environment. At the same time, retired emeriti faculty members want to continue to contribute to post-secondary life. They are often an under-utilized resource that can support enhanced work and student life on campuses.
This paper is based on a Spring 2021 university campus workshop that was structured as a guided conversation between current post-secondary campus stakeholders and emeriti faculty members. The aim was to stimulate discussion about how emeriti faculty members may use their knowledge and skills as mentors for students, new faculty and campus wide initiatives, including intergenerational learning partnerships
To learn more, contact Sandra P. Hirst, RN, PhD (shirst@ucalgary.ca) and Carole-Lynne Le Navenec, RN, PhD (cllenave@ucalgary.ca), Associate Professors Emeriti, University of Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4 Canada.
Resources to Learn More about Mentoring
National Mentoring Month
International Mentoring Association
National Mentoring Resource Center targeted to youth mentoring, contains a wide variety of evidence-based resources and training tools.
Continue the Conversation on Mentoring Programs
AROHE members who would like to continue the conversation about mentoring can subscribe the online AROHE Discussions Forum, where a mentoring thread has been started. This is a wonderful way to share resources, ask questions, and learn about successful practices.
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