[VPAAEtal] mentor groups for incoming freshmen and the First-Year TRAC

[Academic Affairs]

Colleagues,

I am writing to you to inform you about a program the University College will initiate this summer and to ask for your help recruiting excellent undergraduate students to serve as mentors to incoming students.

When first-time full-time students join us at orientation this summer, they will learn about our new First-Year TRAC (Transforming Relationships & Academic Connections), the guiding force behind our comprehensive retention effort. The First-Year TRAC has been designed to help ensure freshman success by aligning academic and engagement efforts to retain first-year students.

As part of the First-Year TRAC, students will:

  *   Attend New Student Orientation
  *   Attend Lion Camp (Our extended orientation)
  *   Participate in a mentor group
  *   Take a Signature Course with a distinguished professor
  *   Read the University’s Book in Common
  *   Attend First-Year TRAC events on campus

The piece of the TRAC that holds it all together is the mentor groups. Each mentor group will serve 25 students, and based on our current enrollment predictions, we are planning for 48 mentors. These mentors are paid undergraduate students who will be trained to help us:

·      Deliver student-success content like goal setting, time management, note taking, study skills, et cetera

·      Help create cohorts within the freshman class

·      Help guide students to resources on campus

·      Deliver some Book in Common content

·      Guide students to First-Year TRAC events put on by various offices


Mentors will lead “houses” that will be named for important historical figures. These houses will help connect us to our university’s history but also help create new traditions.

In the coming days you will see a marketing campaign encouraging students to apply to be mentors. We must hire mentors before students leave for the summer. Please encourage students who you see as especially qualified to apply for the position. They can find information about the position here:
http://www.tamuc.edu/academics/UniversityCollege/mentorgroups

Thank you for your assistance,

Tabetha Adkins, PhD
Dean of the University College
Associate Professor of Literature & Languages
Tabetha.Adkins at tamuc.edu
P.O. Box 3011 | Commerce, TX 75429-3011
Tel. 903.886.5876

[cid:B7828080-4187-4BE5-AFB4-96571E3BECDA]
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