•CABRILLO COLLEGE MENTORING PROGRAM
R
MISSION STATEMENT•
osa parks owed much of her success to a woman she spent her formative years
under the watchful eye of—Septima Poinsette Clark. The roots of Western philosophic thought
are grounded on Socrates’ influence upon Plato, while the latter served the same purpose for
Aristotle. Eleanor Roosevelt influenced many but only after having learned much from Marie Souvestre.
These connections were paramount in shaping and guiding those individuals in becoming stewards
within their chosen field. The list of fruitful relationships is endless and is by no means restricted to
civil rights activists, prominent philosophers or educators. It is no mere coincidence that most, if not all,
successful people have had someone in their lives who has lent support and encouragement along way.
The aim of the Cabrillo College Mentoring Program is to provide our students with a faculty or staff
mentor who is there for them to answer questions, steer them in the right direction, encourage the use of
campus resources, problem solve or serve merely as a sounding board. We expect that mentors may not
have immediate answers to queries or issues that may arise with the mentees, but the hope is with our life
experiences—as teachers, professionals and previously as students—that we can provide guidance that
will improve both retention and success.
It is important to point out that this program is not meant to replace or compete with the professional
academic counselors on campus, nor the mental health experts in the student health center or the varied
forms of advocacy provided to Cabrillo students within the learning communities. The goal is to work in
conjunction with these resources where we can provide a well-informed experience for our students.
The mentors are not intended to be program specific—that is, a student from the life sciences can
have a mentor from VAPA, a sociology major getting direction from an economics department classified
employee or an athlete paired with an engineering instructor. The aim is that this will facilitate a more
“connected” campus rather than a pluralized one in which students and staff alike remained glued
both physically and personally to their home department/division. Hopefully, students will also have
program-specific advocates they can turn to in order to get more focused guidance as well, and this is also
something that a mentor might help guide a student toward establishing. With three points of contact—
mentor, professional counselor and program specific advocate—we can better improve student outcomes.
While there are certainly many factors that contribute to the success of an individual, there is arguably
no single more important determinant than benefiting from the guidance of others who have traveled
the same road—gleaning from lessons learned, mistakes made, routes taken (or not), methods employed,
people known, resources used and those not, relationships built or lost, struggles, triumphs, success and
failure. The list is endless. As recent research on community colleges has shown, students who are directed,
focused, nurtured, engaged, connected and valued have better odds of achieving their goals. This is the
exact aim of the Cabrillo College Mentoring Program.