ArcherMADE Pairs New Arrivals with Experienced Archers
BY: TYRA LEESMAN
Editor-in-chief
ArcherMADE is a peer mentoring program for incoming students, first-time freshmen, and people who need help navigating the system at Saint Louis Community College.
The program was developed for Meramec, Florissant Valley, and Forest Park campuses. Each has a Coordinator for Orientation and Transition, all of whom oversee the programs for their respective campuses.
“If a student comes to a new student registration workshop, Archer Orientation, or any touchpoint for new students, they will be given the information. The application is also available online during registration season. Some of these students in the program, they just really needed a friend. Someone to talk to about things, and support. It’s been really cool just to see how each individual’s relationship with the campus has developed,” said Amber Grant, Coordinator for the Meramec Campus.
The Florissant Valley Coordinator is Dwayne Morgan and Dedra Duncan is at Forest Park campus. The Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs for STLCC, Dr. Anthony Cruz, first proposed the idea to offer a program for peer mentoring and charged Julie Massey with creating a committee that would it. Massey is the manager of the student success initiative.
“It’s free to students on campus. Our pilot year began in August. We recruited students and worked with enrollment services to get all the first time students, focusing on African American students because of low retention rates,” said Grant. “We wanted to look at those numbers and benefit the retention, but we do also work with any demographic. During our focus groups, though, we were getting feedback and receiving applications from the African American students and, actually, all of the students in the Meramec program currently are African American.”
Students who become paid Orientation Leaders on the three campuses are expected to take on a mentoring role. They apply or are referred by staff or faculty on their campuses. They’re chosen based on GPA and involvement on campus as well as leadership ability, said Grant.
“[Applications] were sent by mail to incoming students. All they had to do was apply online or on paper sent back over the summer,” said Grant.
Enrollment in the ArcherMADE program is now closed, but it will open again in the summer of 2019 for fall of that year. The program lasts a full school year, according to Grant, because retention drops frequently at the end of the first semester.
There is no set facility, as mentee students meet individually with their mentors. However, coordinators have offices and Meramec’s Amber Grant is located in Campus Life.
“We’re always looking for more mentors. The more mentors we have, the better we can help students. Currently, we have five mentors and nine students. We try to keep the ratios around two or three mentees per mentor,” said Grant.
If anyone has an interest in developing relationships and providing insight into being a college student, they might look into being a mentor, according to Grant. It’s a paid position, as part of their duties as Orientation Leaders.
“I think it just really helps to make a difference. ArcherMADE was a name we came up with. Making a Difference in Education. We chose that name because when you go to college with no experience, you connect with people who help make you into the person you will become — successful and a leader in your own way,” said Grant.
In addition, students are connected with other students who are proven leaders and academically successful, said Grant.
“It makes students feel like part of the community, because at community college a lot of students can get lost in the process and just go to campus for class and then leave without ever really being a part of the community,” said Grant. “We’re always communicating with other departments about my students’ involvements, anywhere from advising to the support center, sometimes financial aid. We want to make sure we’re meeting the needs of our students.”
