Letter to the editor: Response to University Studies Article

Letter to the editor

Dear Editor:

The article on the University Studies program, “A University Program Studied,” [Oct. 11] contained many well-research points . We would like to add our observations to the conversation and correct a couple of items.

1. The nature of an interdisciplinary classroom is directly aligned with PSU’s mission “Let Knowledge Serve the City” where faculty and mentors work together to communicate across field-specific areas of expertise, which is a unique skill that may extend directly from an area of expertise but is not exclusively bound to it. When joining an interdisciplinary team, faculty do not need to check or put aside their disciplinary expertise; rather, what they must check in actuality are disciplinary assumptions and jargon, and they must develop the capacity to speak across disciplinary boundaries to a diverse range of individuals who are the students in their classrooms. Mentors directly align with and support this curricular function.

2. While it is correct that all mentor sections for the FRINQ courses, which usually number around 40 per year, are taught by upper-division undergraduate mentors, it might also be worth noting that SINQ courses are taught by graduate mentors who come from PSU departments, and these number around 60 per term. The mentor program totals nearly 100 students per year who are formally trained for over 120 hours to serve as mentors.

3. UNST and the Mentor Program require more training time and
classroom-based training than any other student award program on campus. Our mentors attend a 4-credit class in spring prior to hiring, attend a 4-day training conference prior to fall term, and complete ongoing leadership and professional development activities each term related to current research and practice on teaching and learning. They are extremely well prepared.

4. UNST Peer Mentorships are highly competitive, selective, and merit based in nature. Over 220 qualified students, graduate and undergraduate, apply each year for approximately 50 open positions. The majority of our mentors, in fact, were directly recommended to us for the positions by PSU faculty.

5. Mentors are and have always been required programmatically and contractually to prepare fully for and deliver all mentoring and class activities, which include course readings, lesson plans, student support, and weekly meetings with faculty. Related to the reporter’s anonymous, “multiple” mentors who shared that they are not required by UNST to do readings at the direction of their faculty partners, it is required by UNST that once faculty are assigned their mentors, faculty must work directly with them to guide mentor session planning, course preparation, and related student support. If a faculty member tells a mentor not to do course readings, as the article implies here, that is clearly the faculty member’s priority to make a choice at a specific point in time or related to a particular course activity.

If anyone wants to learn more about the UNST curriculum and its mentor programs, please contact us. Our mentors are, in fact, some of the most highly prepared and well-trained members of our campus community when it comes to supporting and retaining students at PSU.

Jointly submitted by:
Yves Labissiere, Faculty and Assistant Director of University Studies
Dana Lundell, Director of Mentor Programs, University Studies
Michael Flower, Faculty and Coordinator of FRINQ Program
Jacob Sherman, Graduate Student and GAA for Mentor Programs