Mentors target at-risk freshmen
■ Researchers look at students of color with low test scores
or low high school GPAs and their response to extra support
By Jeremy Lang
Oregon Daily Emerald
Students in the new Peer Men
tor Program aren’t just getting
help adjusting to campus life.
They’re also human subjects in
a University research project
aiming to discover how to keep
minority students on campus.
The 17 students being men
tored are freshmen students of
color and classified as “at risk”
based on low SAT scores and
low high school grade point av
erages. The 10 mentors in the
program are upperclassmen who
are involved with many student
groups on campus. Besides meet
ing for lunches and coffee breaks,
the mentors introduce their stu
dents to the library, student
groups and important locations
on campus.
Assistant Dean of Student Life
Troy Franklin was responsible
for selecting the research groups,
which include the 17 students
being mentored and a “control
group” of students with similar
characteristics who will not re
ceive mentors. The names of the
research subjects, all volunteers,
are being kept confidential for
privacy and security reasons.
Franklin said the actual men
toring will continue only
through fall term but the research
will continue until fall 2000.
“At the end of fall term next
year, the students will fill out
surveys, which will be compiled
with grade information. We will
compare the mentored group
with the control group to find
out if the program helped new
students of color do a better job
of using campus resources and
adjusting to college life,” he said.
The research was authorized
by the Committee for the Protec
tion of Human Subjects from the
University's Human Subjects
Compliance Office, which ruled
that file research is ethical based
on federal guidelines before the
program started.
Franklin explained that the
program evolved from a model
for increasing student involve
ment in campus leadership, and
it was a natural decision to pick
student leaders as mentors.
“Many of them are in leader
ship roles on campus and are
succeeding because they got
hooked up in programs and
groups,” he said.
The overall goal of the project
is to improve retention of stu
dents of color on the University,
according to Franklin.
“The first year is the critical
time when students are most
likely to drop out. The mentors
are showing the students how to
make the campus work to their
advantage,” he said.
Mentor Javier Hernandez, a se
nior majoring in international
studies and environmental stud
ies, said he’s mostly trying to be
a friend and not a parent to his
students.
“Normally, it might take a year
for students to get involved sim
ply because they don’t know
how. I’m just showing them
what they can do to accomplish
here,” he said.
Senior political science major
Jessica Billingslea, another men
tor, said she thinks the program
is another step in improving
campus diversity as a whole. “If
we can keep more students of
color on campus, it will broaden
diversity into every classroom
and enhance the campus,” she
said.
Both Billingslea and Hernan
dez said the mentoring is going
well and their students are excit
ed to learn how to succeed.
“It gives me hope that some
thing is being done here,”
Billingslea said. “That in itself is
a success.”
Monday, Oct 25 .
Today at 3 p.m. Sexual Assault
Free Environment will hold a
meeting at the Humble Bagel, 881
E. 13th Ave.
ODE Classifieds...
Worth Looking Into!
?£5~Q~dU5~
Authentic Chinese Cuisine
RESTAURANT &
LOUNGE
947 Franklin Blvcl
eHe]
343-4480
Who,,
.really
LEADERSHIP
a
Students Wanted
care/
The Presidential Advisory Committee
needs six students of diverse back
grounds to help create a code of conduct
for its licensees working conditions.
Deadline is Friday, October 29, @ 5:00pm.
Pick up
applications
at the ASUO,
Suite
4 in the
EMU.
Apply now for
Licensee Code
of Conduct
Board!
Questions?
346-3724
Aries:
What are you doing this weekend?
Check your|
Try drinking water for a change.
(It’s the dear stuff without the head.)
BRUA
Sure, water is good for you.
Everybody knows that. But who
knows where it's been? Check out the
Brita® Water Filtration Pitcher. It
removes chlorine, sediment and 99%
of lead from your tap water.
The water is so good, you may not
want to drink anything else. (Yeah, right.)
Look for a Brita sampling
event coming soon to your campus.
Tap water, transformed.™
Substances removed may not be in all water. ©1999 The Brita Products Co.