Purpose
The purpose of the Dowdy Multicultural Center Mentoring Program at West Chester University (WCU) is to assist first-year and transfer multicultural (African-American, Asian-American, Latino, and Native American) students in their transition to WCU. The program is designed to aid in establishing a solid foundation for future success at the Univesity.
The program, which is open to all first-year and transfer multicultural students, aims to empower individual student participants by providing them with an upper-class student (peer mentor), a member of WCU's faculty/staff and multicultural student body who will guide, offer information, and support the student throughout his/her initial year of enrollment.
Our office strongly believes that the contributions of a multicultural student who has earned 24 or more credits and a faculty/staff member will result in a significant increase in the number of multicultural students achieving success at WCU, both inside and outside of the classroom.
Design
The Multicultural Center Mentoring Program consists of three basic components. The first component is the first-year/transfer multicultural student (mentee). The second component is the upper-class student (peer mentor). The third and optional component is comprised of the faculty/staff mentors. Mentors on each level strive to assist first-year and transfer multicultural student in his/her academic, career, personal, and social endeavors during their initial year of enrollment at WCU.
History
The Mentoring Program in the Multicultural Center was formed in 1994 due to a need for increased retention and graduation rates, and student engagement amongst the multicultural students at West Chester University. The Mentoring Program was implemented by Jerome (Skip) Hutson and Rochelle Peterson. At that time the mentoring Program only consisted of two components: the Mentee (student) and a Faculty/Staff component.
Established in 1994, the Mentoring Program in the Multicultural Center was formed to help multicultural students persist and graduate from West Chester University. The program was implemented by Jerome (Skip) Hutson and Rochelle Peterson. At that time the Mentoring Program only consisted of two components: the mentees (first-year students) and volunteer, faculty/staff mentors. In 1996, Dr. Kendrick Mickens joined the staff and a third component was added, the peer mentor component. This addition provided a successful academic peer liaison and role model for the first-year participates, and has become integral to the success of the program.