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FSL Faculty Mentor Program

Faculty Mentor Report

Please submit your report twice a month before the Monday following your mentor sessions. 

Submit Mentor Session Report

Clement Building

What is a Faculty Mentor?

Faculty or staff mentors are assigned once participants reach their junior and senior years at APSU. These mentors are directly connected to each participant's major degree, meet FSL students twice a month and send session reports to the FSL office and commit to this position for one academic year. The roles of mentor and mentee are intended to be dynamic and interactive, thereby making the success of the relationship dependent on constructing meaningful dialogues and designing tangible actions.

 

Faculty Mentor Services

Mentors are determined by the recommendation of FSL participant in agreement with the FSL Director. Mentors have a successful track record of working with students on the Autism Spectrum and have a sense of supportiveness coupled with good networking skills. They attend Training with the FSL program director at the beginning of each year and assist the FSL team in the areas of advisement, career readiness, and transition to the workforce. They make sure that contact with the mentee, mainly through face-to-face meetings, is maintained on a regular basis (at least twice a month). The mentors address the following topics:

What are your mentee’s academic goals? How can you help accomplish them?

  • Current assignment schedule
    • what does your mentee have to accomplish in the next two weeks across his or her course load?
  • Organization strategies
    • ways that you can help mentees stay organized and on top of their academic schedule.
  • Professionalism inside and outside the classroom

Aid mentees in researching job opportunities, internships, courses that would point them toward their career goals, and resources that would benefit them on and off campus.

  • On-campus resources for career readiness
    • Office of Career Services
    • Online Career Training Courses
    • Student Organizations
    • Honor Society
    • Internship Opportunities
    • Interview protocol
      • Resume/ Cover letter specific format
      • Mock Interviews
  • Off-campus resources for career readiness
    • Websites 
    • Organizations
    • Conferences that address career readiness in the Mentee’s field of study
    • Workshops
    • Research
    • Networking
      • Professionalism inside and outside the workplace

Faculty Mentor Benefits

In addition to receiving a stipend, Faculty members benefits greatly from the FSL Faculty Mentor program. Faculty mentors find joy in the experience of helping FSL participants evolve into a confident and competent colleague. FSL participants who become active in the professional community often increase the visibility and influence of their faculty mentor, which enhances the mentor's stature and allows them to attract more students at the Austin Peay State University. FSL students also stimulate Faculty mentors to remain on the cutting edge in their fields while gaining a deeper understanding of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Faculty Mentors can include their knowledge of Autism Spectrum into their instructional strategies. In sum, friendship is an evitable outcome of the FSL Faculty Mentor program, particularly as FSL students become more socially independent and more career ready.

 

Mentee Benefits

Faculty mentors help FSL students master professional skills and ultimately "learn the ropes" of both the discipline and the local organization. FSL Students develop many competencies associated with career readiness such as Critical Thinking/Problem Solving, Oral/Written Communications, Teamwork/Collaboration, Leadership, Professionalism/Work Ethic, Career Management, Global/Intercultural Fluency. The faculty mentors introduce mentees to significant people in both the local university community and the broader profession. Mentee often gain the inside track on job possibilities and early opportunities for leadership and engagement in professional organizations. When FSL students encounter a faculty mentor who gets to know them, refrains from rejecting them as unworthy (because they are on the Autism Spectrum), and instead offers acceptance, confirmation, admiration, and emotional support, their self-concepts are irrevocably bolstered.

 

 Faculty Mentor Resources

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