Wake Forest University: Building a campus-wide mentoring culture

Authors

  • Allison McWilliams Wake Forest University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18060/21449

Keywords:

peer, transition, college student, network

Abstract

This article describes recent efforts by Wake Forest University to develop a campus-wide mentoring culture to support holistic student development, to assist with the critical transition from high school to college to life after college, and to develop skills and practices that will be valued by employers and graduate schools. The article describes how the University’s Mentoring Resource Center has been developed and uses a decentralized model of mentoring to support mentor and mentee skill development with online and in-person tools and strategies. The article in particular describes several key peer mentoring programs as examples of diverse program goals and participants that are supporting student transition and development. Finally, the article looks at measures of success and lessons learned that can be applied in the future.

Author Biography

Allison McWilliams, Wake Forest University

Allison E. McWilliams is the Director of Mentoring and Alumni Personal & Career Development at Wake Forest University, a role she has held since June 2010. Prior to her current role, she served as a faculty member at the University of Georgia where she led leadership development, organizational development, and mentoring programs. She is a board member of the International Mentoring Association and has written and spoken broadly on the topic of mentoring.

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Published

2017-08-24