For some students it can be a challenge to motivate yourself to study or know where to go next in your college career.  

The Faculty Mentor Program (FMP) is a program for students provided by participating faculty members. There are many benefits that come with being involved in the Faculty Mentor Program. This program not only benefits the students, but the faculty involved as well.

Students can share their dreams with their mentors to expand their visions and future goals. Professors are more than just academic instructors, they can be long time academic and professional connections. The chances that your professors will love sharing their own journey with you, and will have tons of advice about what you should be doing in college to get yourself on the right track for after graduation. 

Dr. Rebekah Shrader (Assistant professor of Economics) has been in the program for five years and has helped many of her Student proteges blossom into very involved and successful students.

Shrader describes the program as “A program intended towards first generation college students it pairs up mentors who are faculty here on campus that are volunteering to be apart of the program. We pair mentors with what we call the students involved a protege. The proteges get to know their mentors on a very different level than they get to know their professors or advisers.”

Shrader continued by saying “It is much more relational rather than going in for advising for advice, it is much more of an organic relationship where the walls and barriers between professors and students are taken down and the students can get more comfortable really asking life questions or just being able to relate with the professors.” 

The program has grown from 120 student proteges to over 400 students in a year. The faculty mentors are excited to have so many new student proteges, but they are still trying to recruit more mentors as well.

Shrader mentioned that “We need to recruit more mentors, and for mentors it is so rewarding because you get to know the students really well and get to learn the students perspective so much more rather than just advising on what classes to take. We also get to make other faculty friends in different programs that otherwise we wouldn’t have interacted with.”

Shrader describes her experience as wonderful and rewarding and “everyone’s experience in the program is unique.”

Viviana Castro (Communications & Biology, Senior) a student assistant for FMP has been in the program for two years said that “A lot of these mentors have been first generation students themselves so they know what it feels like to be confused and stressed when they can’t find the proper resources. When you meet with your mentor you can talk about anything and know that your mentor will help guide you in what you need assistance with.”

Castro continued by saying “It feels nice to always have someone there and takes a huge weight off your chest to know that you are going to be okay when under stress.”

Students can request a certain professor to be their mentor. This is how  Jason Pourtaverdi (Director & Co-coordinator of FMP) got involved.

“After learning about the program I truly believed in it and its mission, but what I never expected was the relationships i’ve built with not only my proteges, but also other faculty members from all the departments and disciplines across campus.”

“Many times as faculty we stay in our own little world and really don’t interact with people from many other departments. Joining FMP has completely erased those barriers because now I have something in common with other faculty and I’ve built great relationships with really good people that I probably would have never talked to besides the occasional ‘Hello’ while passing.” said Pourtaverdi

Any faculty members on a tenure track, or even part time lecturers that have any interest in the program can go to the FMP office which is located in Dorothy and Bill Bizzini Hall, C 107D,  log onto the FMP website or Contact Jason Pourtaverdi