Mentors are chosen because they listen to the Holy Spirit and help students to do the same. They should serve as a refuge where students can come to receive support and empowerment to accomplish God’s plan for their lives.
The Student Life and Ministry Department endeavors to cultivate a holistic living and learning community. Our primary goal is the advancement of academic, ministry and spiritual formation for the student body. As part of the Servant of All Program, SUM provides each student with a mentor that models positive values and spiritual principles. The relationship between the mentor and student is built upon mutual trust and respect.
A mentor's role is to encourage and to hold students accountable in the areas of academics, spiritual and personal development, physical fitness and diet, interpersonal relationships, and financial integrity. A strong mentor is vital in helping a student develop the disciplines for life-long ministry. They offer spiritual care and mentoring during office hours, over coffee or mealtimes, and even in their homes.
Choosing a mentor is an important decision.
Mentors are chosen because they listen to the Holy Spirit and help students to do the same. They are neither replacements for pastors, parents, guardians, siblings nor disciplinarians or decision makers. They should serve as a refuge where students can come to receive support and empowerment to accomplish God’s plan for their lives.
Mentors help students to determine how they can be successful through empowerment. They also will have some additional relational attributes:
- Friend - trustworthy and dependable
- Confidant - protector of student’s personal information
- Advocate - supporter of student abilities
- Partner - committed to help students through difficulty
- Cheerleader - encourager to pursue dreams and passions
Mentors help students determine a path of success based on the student’s specific needs. The elephant that will always be in the room in the beginning of a mentorship relationship will be the obvious dissimilarities between student and mentor. The mentor’s goal, despite all obstacles, is to help the student and to always show care and support. People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
Mentors need to show genuine care for a student's personal, spiritual and academic growth. Failure to show genuine interest in a student will produce failure to be the mentor the student really needs. Mentors help students to expand their own thinking to answer life’s necessary questions. They allow students to evaluate their own mistakes and what’s not working in their success plan. Mentors must always remember it’s not their place to judge. They should show students that failure is an opportunity to learn.
Mentor Qualities:
- A respect for the student and their journey.
- A healthy spiritual and personal life that demonstrates preparedness, approachability, and availability.
- An ability to emphasize listening to the Lord through prayer.
- An ability to see student’s problems as opportunities for growth.
- An ability to be honest and understanding while pushing the student to grow.
- A passion to see students prepare themselves so they can be successful.
- Ability to listen 80% of the time, talk 20% of the time, and listen to the Holy Spirit 100% of the time.
The general goal for SUM mentors is to walk with a student through all three years of the undergraduate program.
The mentor agreement only needs to be completed in the first term of mentorship if the mentor remains the same.
In some cases, a mentor is unable to commit to that three year process or a student feels they need a different mentor to speak into their lives. Students are free to change their mentor between terms. In that case, a new mentorship agreement should be completed and uploaded to canvas.