You may be familiar with mentoring, but are you implementing a program that is increasing student success? In their Annual Meeting session, “Empowering Student Employees Through Mentoring,” presenters Jason Meldrun and Tyler Williams of Brigham Young University - Idaho focused on why work on campus is just as important as work done in the classroom.
Tasked with doing more with fewer resources, BYU - Idaho’s Admissions Office moved to a campus model of employing students to do staff work. This freed full-time staff to focus on additional responsibilities and allowed students to gain real-life work experience.
Changing Perspective
According to the presenters, full-time staff had to take a look at their preconceived ideas and be willing to change their way of thinking. In order for this program to work, staff had to:
- Give up control
- Believe that students were ready to take on the responsibility
- Have patience and realize that failure is a strong teaching and learning tool
- Move towards side-by-side leadership, where mentoring is the focus.
The End Result
There are currently 35 students working in the Admissions Office at BYU – Idaho, many of whom are given responsibilities such as making admissions decisions and hiring other student employees. Rather than just performing duties, students are engaged in the campus community and have significant tasks that produce measurable results. As part of the discussion, session attendees shared how their own campus jobs shaped and influenced their current career paths.
Ironically, many student employees don’t realize the benefits of the training and experience they've received until they leave campus. However, by providing an environment in which students are fully supported—but given autonomy and responsibility—a mentor can help students be more prepared for the opportunities and challenges that await them after graduation.