We know faculty mentorship of students is important for: integrating students' academic and co-curricular lives; providing students with references for graduate and professional school; and helping students network and make connections across campus and beyond. Gallup, Ray & Kafka stated, "if graduates recalled having a professor who cared about them as a person, made them excited about learning, and encouraged them to pursue their dreams, their odds of being engaged at work more than doubled, as did their odds of thriving in all aspects of their well-being" (2014). However, a 2011 NSSE study of graduating seniors at The Ohio State University revealed that 50% of students felt they had little or no access to faculty and another 30% felt they had only some access to faculty outside of the classroom. As a result, faculty mentorship to students became the foundational cornerstone of the Second-year Transformational Experience Program (STEP) experience.
STEP was launched with a goal of increasing retention rates and attending to the unique developmental needs of second-year students through faculty mentorship. A collaboration between the offices of Student Life and Academic Affairs, STEP connects students with faculty mentors who engage with them outside of the classroom and supports their personal, professional, and academic goals.