Three years ago, Director of Alumni Engagement Trente Arens was charged with creating 'B.U.M.P', the Benedictine University Mentorship Program. Immediately, the one on one, a year-long program presented challenges scaling beyond a few dozen students. The experience lead her team to ask, what really is mentoring?
Terms to Describe Student-Alumni Engagement by Benedictine University
1. Mentoring vs. Networking
vs. Connecting
Terms to Describe Student-
Alumni Engagement
2017 Faith-Based Institution Leadership Summit
2. Background
• 2.5 years ago… started the Benedictine
University Mentorship Program (B.U.M.P.) as a
way to connect students and alumni
• Year-long program connecting one alumni
mentor with one student mentee
• Required monthly communication
• List of activities to complete together
• Variety of on-campus events targeted to them
• #1 Question: What is mentoring?
2017 Faith-Based Institution Leadership Summit
3. Background
• Our definition:
Mentoring is essentially a system of semi-
structured guidance where one person shares
their knowledge and offers advice to assist
another with their personal and professional
growth. Mentoring is all about motivating and
empowering another person to identify their
goals and helping them find ways of achieving
those goals.
2017 Faith-Based Institution Leadership Summit
4. The Transition
• A few problems arose:
• Feasibility
• Accountability
• Personality
• Scalability
• Partnered with Wisr starting in July 2017
2017 Faith-Based Institution Leadership Summit
5. The Dilemma
• What do we call it?
• How do we properly describe/market this?
• Is this still “mentoring?”
• Mentor vs. Network vs. Connect
2017 Faith-Based Institution Leadership Summit
10. MENTOR
Offer advise from experience
Share personal insights
COACH
Listen attentively
Ask questions
Uncover solutions
ADVISE
Understand the problem
Offer breakthrough input
Present solutions
TRAIN
Transfer knowledge/information
Increase proficiency
Traditional teaching Facilitated learning
Helper sets the agenda
Client sets the agenda
Other Perspectives
11. MENTOR: Creates a relationship based on
long-term benefit driven by know one another
deeply. Mentors are safe, look to develop their
mentees, and have no agenda. They are
passing along their knowledge and
experience. Mentors give a sense of
perspective and history, offer advice, and
share contacts to help students reach goals.
COACH: Works with a student to improve
performance, help establish and meet goals,
understand and resolve challenges, and
focus on growth. The coach doesn’t
necessarily have all the answers or do all the
work, but usually brings an outside-in and
unemotional perspective. Coaches know
how to talk the student through a process of
discovery and skill development, asking
questions to lead to achievements.
ADVISOR: Involves someone with specific
expertise or experience who can help
students in a particular way. The student
asks questions, and the advisor has
answers. They listen a little and talk a lot,
and they are able to help a student get an
urgent problem or need resolved quickly.
TRAINER: Is usually very formal, should have
well-defined learning objectives, and is often
brief compared to coaching and mentoring. A
trainer has extensive experience or knowledge
in a subject that is being delivered in the
training. There is knowledge transfer. How this
happens is variable and can include lectures,
discussions, simulations, case studies, and
other forms of interaction.
Traditional teaching Facilitated learning
Helper sets the agenda
Client sets the agenda
Other Perspectives