Adventures in Career Advising: Help
Your Students Discover the Power of
Mentorships through Alumni
Collaborations
Tina M. Knox
Coordinator of Undergraduate Instruction
Academic Advisor, MCB
October 10, 2014 NACADA National Conference

Public, 4-year, Research I Institution
32,000 undergraduates
College of Liberal Arts and Science
School of Molecular and Cellular Biology
» MCB
» MCB Honors
» Biochemistry
» Biology Teacher Education

Approximately 1,900 Total Students
– MCB, Biochemistry, Biology
– 73% Declared Pre-med Students

Approximately 330 graduates each
Spring
– 40% Professional school
– 34% Workforce
– 19% Graduate school
– 7% Other

• Average loan debt of graduating seniors for the UIUC campus in 2013 was $24, 507!
• Up from only $13,494 in 2003
• Number of students needing to borrow money has risen dramatically.

Year
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11
2011-12
2012-13
5,785
6,535
6,494
6,896
6,892
7,325
7,212
7,160
7,520
7,473
Number of
Graduating
Seniors
O UR S TUDENTS A RE
I NCREASINGLY I N D EBT
Office of Student Financial Aid, UIUC
Number of
Student
Borrowers
2,754
3,219
3,297
3,500
3,478
3,755
3,714
3,708
3,929
3,857
% Graduating
Seniors Who
Borrowed
Student Loans
48%
49%
51%
51%
50%
51%
51%
52%
52%
52%
Average Student
Loan Debt of
Graduating Seniors
$ 13,494
$ 14,776
$ 15,641
$ 17,058
$ 17,938
$ 19,518
$ 21,543
$ 22,975
$ 24,657
$ 24,507
Average Family Loan
Debt of Graduating
Seniors
$ 14,474
$ 17,703
$ 21,154
$ 25,507
$ 27,695
$ 29,631
$ 33,539
$ 36,155
$ 40,208
$ 41,797

• What can I (my child) do with this degree?
• What sort of assistance do you provide in helping students gain employment or admission to graduate school?

• Research opportunities
• Job and internship fairs
• MCB career info sessions
• Career Center collaborations
– Resume/Personal Statement Review
– Mock Interviews
– Internships
• Mentorships

• We owe it to our students! Holistic advising.
• We see them on a regular basis and are in a position to ask them about their passions and goals.
• We can help them formulate a realistic plan.
• If we can’t answer career related questions about our major, they may not see us as credible sources.

• We are in a unique position to help them make connections between their course work and the professional world.
• Economic realities (and parents) demand it!

Virginia Gordon (2006)
“A dynamic, interactive process that helps students understand how their personal interests, abilities, and values might predict success in the academic and career fields they are considering”

• Proactively encouraging career development for our students
• Incorporating career talks in first year experience course
• Advisor professional development
• Increased collaboration with Career
Center
• Career fair targeted to LAS students

• 2009 contacted by advancement office
• Request to meet with alum interested in mentoring
• Courting him for donation

Alumni Support/Collaboration with
Advancement Office
Richard Berkowitz, MD, 1979 Grad
Chairman and Medical Director, Dept. of
Anesthesiology, Community Hospital,
Munster, IN.
Clinical Assoc. Professor of
Anesthesiology and Pediatrics, UIC
Volunteer Clinical Asst. Professor, Indiana
University School of Medicine

“relationship between a younger adult and an older, more experienced adult
[who] helps the younger individual learn to navigate the adult world and the world of work” (Kram, 1985)

and involves much more than simply acquiring a specific skill or knowledge.
Mentoring is about a relationship and involves both the professional and the personal.”
Management Mentors Blog http://www.management-mentors.com/about/corporate-mentoring-matters-blog/

Essay Contest
Dinner with Speaker
* Mentorship Opportunity

1. Who or what has had the greatest impact on your life so far and why?
2. If you were given the opportunity to live your life over again, what would you change and why?
3. What do you do in your life today that may limit your ability to connect and relate to other people?
4. When, in your opinion, is it acceptable to fail?

Students were ranked based on
• GPA
• Participation in co-curriculars
• Answers to essay questions
Top 3 invited to dinner and offered participation in mentorship program

• Dinner discussion
• One day job shadowing
• Email correspondence
• Occasional on-campus meetings
• Relationship continued through graduation and beyond

• “Extremely beneficial and fulfilling”
• “Exceeded my expectations”
• “I caught a true glimpse of the life of a physician.”
• “I came home excited to share my experiences, and with my faith reaffirmed in my future in medicine.”

• “He is really there for us and having someone that has been through it all already is something I feel I really needed.”
• “This opportunity is really one of a kind. It's a privilege…”

• Requested list of UIUC alums and their professions from advancement
– Signed volunteer confidentiality form
• Dr. Berkowitz contacted alums in health related fields and invited participation
– Shared is motivation and experience

Year
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Mentors Occupations
1
3
8
30
40
3
6
Student
Matches
3
41
33
1: MD
2: MD and PA, Journ
1+
3: MD, Dent, Pharm
5: MD, Dent, Pharm,
PA, PT

• Provide top applicant’s with list of mentors.
– Specialty
– Location
• Let them choose their top picks
• Email mentor with student info
• Student makes first contact via email

• Make contact with students 3-4 times per year either by e-mail or in person
• Provide at least one annual shadowing experience
• Stay in touch with student throughout the year, and if possible through graduation

“This program is an incredible and exciting experience... it is unequivocally a great way for you to become reconnected with your Alma Mater!”

• “I learned a lot about the career path to being a doctor that is not found on any website and I walked out feeling confident about pursuing a career in medicine.”
• “This was very helpful and opened my eyes to several new paths I had never considered.”

• “I did not get the chance keep up with the mentor nor has he emailed or stayed in touch this semester. ”
• “ Communication between student, mentor, and program organizers needs more work so that everyone is on the same page.”

• Mentoring involves a mutual partnership.
• Both participants need to have a clear understanding of the process and it’s expectations .
• Need to request feedback from both parties at specific intervals.

• How often have you met in person with your mentor?
• How many contacts, other than meeting in person, have you had with your mentor?
• How have you communicated with your mentee? Please mark all that apply.
Email, Phone calls, Face-to-face, Office or workplace visit, Other

• Did you initiate the communications?
• Most of the time, 60% to 90% of the time, 30% to 60% of the time, 0 to 30% of the time
• How would you rate this mentoring experience?
• Excellent, Very Good, Fine, Fair, Poor
• Would you recommend the MCB Pathways to
Health Careers Mentorship Program for future students? Why or why not?

• Please describe your interpretation of your mentee’s experience in this program.
• How has participation in the mentoring experience affected your feelings for the
University of Illinois?
– Negative, no change, improved
• Would you participate in this program again?

• Unspecified or weak goals
• Unknown outcomes
• Self-selection of mentors and mentees
• Long-term mentoring
• No training or support

• Establish goals
– Measurable outcomes
• Strategic pairing of mentors and mentees
– Use questionnaires and/or program to match
• Mentoring engagements lasting 9-12 months
– More focused with option to extend
• Training and support

• Expand list of potential mentors
• Continue to increase diversity of mentors
• Create formal expectations/contract
• Follow students after graduation
– Track their successes

• Paid summer research internship at
Scripps Beckman Center in La Jolla,
CA
• Annual donations to help with travel costs for summer research internships

• Students
– Experience, Insight, Mentorship
• Alumni
– Re-connect with University
• Reminisce
• Pay it forward

• University Advancement
– First step with potential donors
– Shared access to graduation surveys

• Immediately following this session at
4:15 p.m. on the Mezzanine level.
• Enjoy the break until 4:45 p.m.