Abstract
Cary Quadrangle, a residence hall at Purdue University, had suffered a decline in the effectiveness of its formal mentoring program for the last three years. Knowledge was not being transferred from mentor to protégé at the levels management expected and when mentors were trained they were told how important the mentoring program was, yet they were given no resources, goals, or tools to be successful. The program risked having negative consequences on the credibility of management or being cancelled completely if the program continued on its trajectory. The following initiatives were researched and implemented to improve quality and turn the program around. First, a literature review was undertaken to develop and define a list of formal mentoring program best practices. Second, a survey was administered to the resident assistants of Cary to identify the gaps between Cary’s mentoring program and the established best practices. Third, a restructuring plan was developed and implemented to fill the gaps identified in the survey. Finally, a follow-up survey of the resident assistants was conducted to measure the success to which the gaps were filled. In conclusion of the aforementioned research a final paper was written and presented detailing the results of the literature review, surveys, and restructuring plan.
Keywords
mentoring, knowledge transfer, training, residence hall
Date of this Version
4-21-2010
Department
Organizational Leadership and Supervision
Department Head
Michael M Beyerlein Ph.D.
Month of Graduation
May
Degree
Master of Science
Advisor 1 or Chair of Committee
Dr. Mara Wasburn
Committee Member 1
Dan Lybrook
Committee Member 2
Rodney Vandeveer