Faculty Mentors for Students
The student faculty mentor role
Student Faculty Mentors serve declared undergraduate majors and graduate students in the appropriate discipline, focusing on career advice, internship opportunities, research opportunities and future academic pursuits. Faculty mentors have in-depth knowledge of their field and are the best resource for expanding students' understanding of the discipline.
The overarching responsibility of a faculty mentor is to build relationships with
majors in their disciplines, providing a meaningful contact point for students for
their academic training at NSU and post-graduation plans. Faculty mentors are not
experts in all areas of the university, but they should be informed enough to provide
useful information and act as an advocate for students. Some specific areas in which
faculty advisors/mentors may provide guidance include:
- Connecting students to relevant services at NSU
- Connecting curriculum to career readiness
- Discussing study abroad opportunities
- Discussing internship opportunities
- Facilitating research opportunities
- Counseling on career advice
- Counseling on graduate school opportunities
- Connecting students to career services for reviewing/editing resumes
- Referring students to the appropriate student affairs services
- Reaching out to students concerning academic alerts
Who is my Faculty Mentor?
All undergraduate and graduate students with a declared major are assigned a faculty mentor based on their field of study. It is the responsibility of both the student and faculty mentor to connect and communicate.
Students Say...
"[My faculty mentor] taught me, inspired me, and pushed me to become an out of the box thinker. He took time to establish a personal connection as well as being a great professor...teaching me other useful skills for the industry, and giving me the confidence to further my education."
- Student, Gregg Wadley College of Science & Health Professions
"[My faculty mentor] goes out of her way to help her students by providing internship, recruiting, and networking opportunities. She takes the time to answer any questions no matter how small they may seem, and she constantly works to provide her students with ways to gain experience and career insight for when we graduate. She is beyond considerate and truly endeavors to help us succeed as people."
- Student, College of Liberal Arts
Here at Northeastern State University, the privacy and confidentiality of our students' educational records are of the utmost importance.
To ensure our Academic Advisors (and staff) are well-equipped to uphold these standards, all advisors/staff are required to complete FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) training through the CITI Program prior to engaging with students. This training provides essential knowledge and guidelines on handling sensitive
student information, thereby fostering a safe and supportive environment for academic advising.
Advisors/staff can find detailed instructions for completing the training in the linked
Google document below. Additionally, a link to the CITI Program website is provided for easy access to the training resources.
Advisee lists should always be run through Argos for accuracy. Argos reports will only identify students for the current term who are actively assigned to an individual faculty mentor.
Instructions for Accessing Advisee Lists:
Desktop Instructions
If a student is not present on your list that you believe should be, please contact an Academic Advisor in your respective college for reassignment.
Mentoring is more than advising. It is a personal and professional relationship. It is a relationship
that develops over time and provides student support in four primary areas.
⇒ Our Advisors will provide ⇐
- Role Model-like Guidance
- Degree and Career Support
- Academic Support
- Diversity Support
♦ Being A Role Model ♦
Requires:
- Maintaining high standards within their own discipline and as engaged members of
the University community.
- Engaging in respectful relationships with colleagues and students.
- Recognizing differences of diversity, disabilities, gender, traditional/nontraditional
students,
first generation students, and cultures by fostering a welcoming and inclusive university
community.
- Sharing knowledge of the dynamics of their profession.
♦ Degree & Career Support ♦
To Demonstrate:
- A commitment to student career and professional
development by collaborating with/guiding students on major selection, minor selection,
and courses that will aid students in meeting their career/ professional/life goals.
- A commitment to providing information and guidance to students in developing career,
education
and/or other goals by offering frank discussions about the professional requirements
and demands of
professions, graduate school, and other professional schools (such as medicine and
law).
- A willingness--when practical--to engage students in activities that enhance professional development including research, conferences, professional organizations,
university organizations, and networking.
- A willingness to have frank but appropriate
discussions with students that review their strengths and weaknesses.
- A willingness--while providing frank and direct advice--to allow students to make
their own decisions.
♦ Academic Support ♦
To Demonstrate:
- A willingness to evaluate student progress and coach their academic performance
in a timely and constructive fashion.
- A willingness to provide students
with intellectual guidance that promotes rigor in academic pursuits.
- A willingness to
help students develop skills needed to achieve academic success.
- A willingness to encourage participation in scholarly and professional activities.
- A willingness to coach and guide students in the alignment of their professional/career/life
goals with their
major, minor, and course selection.
- A willingness to recognize that, because of the
diverse backgrounds of our students, some may need additional advising to understand
the dynamics of the academic world and the skills and attitudes that build success.
♦ Supporting Student Diversity ♦
To Recognize:
- The diverse nature of the university community; including students of diverse social/cultural/academic/family/work/heritage/political/
and military backgrounds.
- How this diverse community is further divided into traditional/nontraditional,
full time/part time, student athletes, and online students who often have diverse
needs.
- The need to support/collaborate fully with all the diverse communities and students of this university.
- A willingness to help students integrate fully into the
university and academic communities.