Thursday, February 27, 1997
MENTORS:
Service gives students counsel about post-graduation optionsBy
J. Sharon Yee
Daily Bruin Contributor
With GPAs to maintain, classes to attend, papers to write and
finals to worry about, sometimes the last thing undergraduates want
to think about is graduate school.
However, the Graduate Mentor Program (GMP) seeks to let students
know that it is never too early to consider the real possibility of
attending a graduate or professional school after receiving their
bachelor’s degree.
As a part of the Academic Advancement Program (AAP), the program
primarily serves students from ethnically underrepresented and
financially disadvantaged students, but is open to all students
interested in attending graduate school.
"Our main goal is to offer students access to a sense of
mentorship that’s useful to them, and help them to be successful
applicants and winning candidates," said Kevin Frank, a doctorate
student in English who has worked for two years as the humanities
mentor.
Started in 1990 by a group of UCLA graduate students who were
concerned that university faculty typically included very few
minority group members, the GMP’s primary goal is to increase
traditionally underrepresented students of color in academia and
graduate schools.
"The one thing UCLA has, because of its location, is a
population rich in diversity. … If that’s the case, then why
aren’t more UCLA students of color moving to levels of higher
education?" said Joel Abueg, a programmer analyst for College
Information Services who worked as both a mentor and coordinator
for three years.
"If an ethnic group represents 20 percent of the population,
then why doesn’t it represent 20 percent of the faculty? Certainly
there should be some equity," he added.
Some mentors said they agree that "in higher education, there is
a sense of cultural war, where (academic) rationale runs the risk
of being dominated by one perspective … we want to be a role in
helping to change that."
The statistics reflect these attitudes. In 1994-1995, UCLA
filled 29 out of 55 tenured faculty spots with white males, 11 with
Asian American males and the remaining 15 with females, excluding
African Americans and Latin Americans completely. Nationwide,
African Americans make up only 2.7 percent of all full professors
at the university level and 2 percent of U.S. medical school
faculty.
Barbara Wallace, currently a doctorate student in history and
the history mentor, remembers there being only four black
professors at UC Riverside while she was a graduate student
there.
"The numbers just stun you because they’re so low," she
said.
In trying to help students be the best possible graduate school
candidates that they can be, GMP offers a wide array of services,
including one-on-one counseling where students have their questions
answered and anxieties eased, workshops that help prepare students
for the Graduate Record Exam (GRE), and faculty roundtable
discussions that allow students to speak with faculty in an
informal setting.
The GMP also works with other groups on campus, such as the Expo
Center and the Center for Academic and Research Excellence (CARE),
to better provide their students with other helpful resources.
According to Abueg, in addition to providing tangible services,
the GMP serves to be a "people resource." He also said that mentors
frequently tell their students about research opportunities with
professors and help them develop connections with other graduate
students.
"Often, it’s the case that people are not able to express what
they know or their skills because they don’t know the people. …
Education and departments are made of people, but students do not
always realize this," he said.
Though administered by AAP, the program is completely run by
graduate students, many of whom come from backgrounds similar to
their students’. This year, the program boasts nine mentors and
approximately 1,300 students.
Many of the mentors attribute their desire to help other
students succeed in applying to graduate schools to their own
personal experience with the process.
"I wanted to teach at the university level and I didn’t have a
role model, so it was very difficult. … What we do is bring in
our own experiences to give them the confidence to go forward,"
said Rachel Chapman, an anthropology doctorate student who is
working as a mentor for the first time this year.
"I had a history professor that really encouraged me to go to
graduate school and for me, it made all the difference in the world
… I thought I’d like to play that role too," added Wallace.
Explaining the importance of mentors, Abueg said they "are
unlike other counselors in that they have a real personal
relationship with their students. … they serve to inspire and
have a personal commitment to their students," often working
overtime and spending money out of their own pockets, all in the
interests of the students.
Students in the program expressed similar sentiments.
"When you decide to go to graduate school, a lot of people tell
you a lot of things, but the mentors sit with you and first ask,
‘Why do you want to go to graduate school?’ They help you focus and
organize your ideas," said Damion Thomas, a first-year graduate
student in history who first came to GMP his junior year.
"People have a lot of misconceptions about graduate schools …
they think grades are everything, but if the statement of purpose
and letters of importance aren’t excellent, the grades aren’t going
to look as good," he said.
"Applying (to grad schools) can be a lonely and demoralizing
process, but having someone to talk to and give you personal
attention helps," added Dawn Mabalon, a second-year masters student
in Asian American studies and counseling assistant for the College
of Letters and Sciences.
"There are a lot of misconceptions about grad schools," Thomas
said. "People think grades are everything, but while they’re
important, if your statement of purpose and letters of
recommendation aren’t excellent, your grades aren’t going to matter
as much."
One popular service that the mentors provide is a thorough
reading and critiquing of students’ drafts of their statements of
purpose. Quite often, students end up writing 20 to 30 drafts
before writing the final one and can spend an equal amount of time
working on other parts of the application.
As getting into grad school becomes increasingly competitive,
the GMP tries to individually counsel students to be the best
possible candidates rather than to simply promote traditionally
underrepresented minorities in academia.
Abueg explained that ultimately, GMP participants hope to "see
diversity of thought instead of (only) diversity of race in higher
education."
JUSTIN WARREN/Daily Bruin
Barbara Wallace (right), a graduate mentor, advises graduate
student Dawn Mabalon. The mentor program is a service provided by
AAP for undergraduates interested in pursuing graduate study.