Students Confirm: Mentor-Based Faculty Works

SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 2, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Western Governors University is known for pioneering the competency-based learning model that lets students study independently, progress at their own speed, and focus on what they need to learn while moving quickly through what they already know. But another hallmark of WGU's nontraditional approach—faculty who serve first and foremost as mentors—has helped the university earn high marks from students for helping them feel deeply engaged in their learning and connected to their university, despite the online, independent nature of their programs.

The data have long shown that faculty mentoring leads to a more enriching student experience and that at WGU, independent doesn't mean alone. But on Thank Your Mentor Day 2015, the anecdotal evidence drove the point home.

As part of National Mentoring Month, WGU invited students to send messages of thanks to their faculty mentors. They responded in droves with personal stories and testimonies to the value of faculty whose number one job responsibility is to work for the students, helping each one graduate.

• View the dozens of student- and alum-submitted Thank Your Mentor videos at www.wgu.edu/thanksmentors.
• Read their social media messages on the #ThanksWGUMentors Tagboard.

At WGU, each student is assigned a faculty mentor who stays with the student from the day they enroll to the day they graduate. Mentors help their students set (and regularly adjust) a degree plan that fits their goals and their lives, guiding students through their program, checking their progress, providing solutions to anything that's slowing them down or tripping them up. A mentor's role is to coach each student to success.

Meanwhile, each course is served by a team of course mentors, subject-matter experts who bring unique teaching and learning methods to a course's specific content and topics. Through one-on-one tutoring, videos or webinars, group discussions, or whatever else it takes, course mentors ensure that students learn what they need to learn to master each course's competencies and graduate with the knowledge and skills employers are looking for.

The value of this approach isn't just anecdotal. The data bear it out as well:

• According to Gallup, 68% of WGU students surveyed last year strongly agreed they had a mentor who encouraged their goals and dreams—more than three times the national average.
• The 2014 National Survey of Student Engagement found that students rated WGU 20% higher than other institutions on quality of interactions with faculty, 23% higher on academic support, and 16% higher for their entire education experience.

Learn more at www.wgu.edu/thanksmentors.

About Western Governors University

Now with more than 53,000 students nationwide, WGU was established in 1997 by a bipartisan group of U.S. governors with a mission to expand access to high-quality, affordable higher education. The nation's first competency-based university, WGU has been recognized by the White House as what works in post-secondary education. WGU is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, has been named one of Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies, and was featured on NPR, NBC Nightly News, CNN, and in The New York Times. 

WGU has earned the support of more than 20 leading corporations and foundations, including AT&T, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Lilly Endowment, HCA, Hewlett-Packard, Lumina Foundation, Microsoft, Oracle, SunGard Higher Education, and Zions Bank. More information is available at www.wgu.edu or by calling 866.225.5948.

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Video - http://youtu.be/H9ON6_yYIZI

SOURCE Western Governors University