Aggiementor: Improving The Retention Of Undergraduates In Stem Areas Via E Mentoring

North Carolina Agricultural T however, electronic communication now provides the opportunity for mentors to communicate with proteges without the common constraints of time and geography 5 . Using an electronic mentoring (E-mentoring) system, the mentoring process can be extended to provide undergraduate students a large pool of mentors that transcend the traditional boundaries of mentoring within the University setting. The current generation of STEM students is highly proficient and favorable to utilize electronic communications such as e-mail, instant messaging, virtual communities, and interaction through on-line websites. Therefore, E-mentoring can provide the opportunity to provide cost-effective and convenient communication for mentoring students that can be used to increase retention of students in STEM programs. MentorNet is a non-profit, E-mentoring network founded in 1997 to addresses the retention and success of those in engineering, science and mathematics, particularly but not exclusively women and other underrepresented groups 11 . It provides proteges the opportunity to receive oneon-one, email-based mentoring relationships with mentors from industry and academia. While overall satisfaction is high from MentorNet participants, students of color still have unmet needs. A 2002-2003 MentorNet evaluation report indicates that students of color prefer to be matched with mentors of the same ethnic background. Most students of color participating during the evaluation period were paired with mentors of another race. A similar sentiment was expressed in the 2004 Women of Color report 10 . Historically black colleges and universities are in a unique position to address the needs of students of color as it relates to mentoring. North Carolina A & T State University is among the top producers of African-American engineers 1 . As a historically black college and university, it has access to a large pool of students as well as mentors via its alumni base. Issues of race and gender experienced in the workplace can be discussed with mentors who share not only the same ethnic background, but collegiate background as well. The intent of this paper is to discuss the implementation of an E-mentoring program we refer to as AggiEmentor. We present demographic information and an initial assessment of the student’s perception of the program on retention in their field of study. Advantages of E-mentoring E-mentoring has been successfully implemented by a number of large Industrial Corporations for new employees and to help improve employee retention 7 . Benefits seen in industrial Ementoring is the program allows the participation of many employees whose time constraints would preclude participation in more traditional mentoring relationships. E-mentoring at the university level can benefit retention of students in STEM by providing mentor role models that can augment academic instruction and resources with access to mentors practicing in the profession. Several universities have successfully developed mentoring 2,4,8 or E-mentoring 9 based programs to recruit and retain students in science, technology, engineering and math disciplines. These programs show E-mentoring can serve as an effective form of mentoring in the absence of time intensive personal and local mentoring and can provide effective support and direction on curriculum issues, graduate school, and employment experiences. Disadvantages of E-mentoring The most apparent disadvantage of E-mentoring is the dependency on network technology. If the infrastructure is unreliable, the mentoring relationship can be disrupted. Re-establishing a relationship after this disruption may prove difficult 6 . In addition to technology disruptions, the mentoring relationship can be ineffective due to the lack of organizational structure. Like oneon-one personal mentoring, E-mentoring programs need clear and simple program requirements and procedures, and a process through which participants can establish a mutual set of expectations in the E-mentoring relationship 7 . Mueller also discusses the interpersonal challenges that can occur as a result of electronic communication. The potential for miscommunication is high because of the lack of face to face interaction. Misinterpretation of non-verbal cues, and improper net etiquette can slow the development of the mentoring relationship 6 . North Carolina A&T E-mentoring Intervention North Carolina A&T State University College of Engineering established an E-mentoring program in the fall semester of 2006 to enhance student retention in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). A three year license was secured with MentorNet which allows the university to register and match A&T Alumni with undergraduate students in the program. The intent of the program is to develop a mechanism which advances the University’s retention objectives by: 1. Providing the opportunity for students to be matched with working professionals that can assist with time management, career counseling and other life skills that will enable them to be successful as a student and future employee. 2. Providing the opportunity for students to connect with A&T alumni with similar backgrounds. 3. Creating a pipeline of future engineers that will mentor undergraduate students at NCA&T or students of color from other universities. 4. Developing an interdisciplinary model for mentoring that can be implemented across the university. This E-mentoring intervention provides a non-monetary opportunity for Alumni to “give back” to the University as well as provide support, encouragement and career development. The first year is devoted to establishing the necessary infrastructure (organizational and technical) to support the program. Subsequent years will be devoted to improving the program, increasing enrollment of students and Alumni, and documenting best practices for establishing E-mentoring programs. The expected outcomes are thus defined based on the 3-year period as follows: 1. Enroll 200 engineering freshman students as proteges, increasing the number of students by 50 each year. 2. Match all participating students with a mentor, of which 60% are A&T alumni. 3. Increase the retention rate of freshman students. Freshman retention as a result of Ementoring will be measured by targeting the fall 2006 incoming freshman class. Implementation The first year activities were focused on establishing the E-mentoring program structure and developing beneficial methods for implementation, recruitment and program assessment. Figure 1 summarizes the organizational structure and key responsibilities of each participant.