The Urban African American Mentoring Program is designed to support students by building relationships with a mentor team in order to help students achieve their personal and academic goals.

Summary 2009-2010The first year of the pilot focused on full-time African-American students (both men and women) beginning their second year at Sinclair, with a minimum GPA of 2.0. Students who were eligible for the program were contacted by letter during the summer. Thirty-two students agreed to participate in the program. Each student was paired with a mentor team which consisted of (1) full-time faculty member and (1) full-time staff member (64 mentors). Faculty and staff mentors attended a fall orientation.  The program officially began with a kick-off luncheon sponsored by President Johnson for mentors and mentees.

The following was a list of the expectations for the mentors:

• Build relationships with co-mentor and mentee.
• Weekly contacts with mentee through email, phone, texting, face-to-face, etc.
• Attend (1) cultural activity with your mentee each quarter.
• Read Privilege, Power, and Difference by Allan Johnson and attend (1) discussion session.
• Complete end of quarter assessments.

Student Outcomes for 2009-2010:  The goal for the program was to retain each student through the academic year and to enroll in fall 2010.