SCSU Program Pairs Students With Staff

St. Cloud State's "Huskies Advance" program pairs students with staff.  SCSU's Dr. Matthew Vorell and President Dr. Robbyn Wacker joined me on WJON to talk about this unique option for students.  Vorell is a professor of Communication Studies in the Judy C. Pearson Department of Communication Studies at St. Cloud State.

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Huskies Advance is a 3-year old intentional match making program where faculty and/or staff are paired with students to help undergraduate students as a coach and support person on campus.  The mentor often times stays with that same student throughout their time at SCSU.  Students identify one of 6 track areas and based on their answers are paired with an appropriate mentor.

Vorell was one of the original mentors for Huskies Advance undergraduate mentoring program and he's emerged as a lead mentor.  The program is optional for students. Staff members aren't paid to be mentors but instead volunteer with the goal of helping undergraduate students toward their goals.  Dr. Wacker says the staff who volunteer can be from any department on campus.  Vorell explains when they started the program they had 3 mentors and 10 mentees and now they have 51 mentors and 130 mentees.

Wacker and Vorell explain this program is designed to help students stay accountable and on track to achieve their goals at SCSU.  Vorell highlighted a couple of mentor/mentee experiences he's been involved with where students have taken the help they received and showed improvement academically.  If you'd like to learn more listen to my conversation with Dr. Vorell and Dr. Wacker below.