Presented By: Joey Mehlhorn, University of Tennessee Martin
Co-Authors: John Clark, University of Tennessee Martin
Jeremy Ross Pruitt, University of Tennessee Martin

An interdisciplinary capstone course was developed in Fall 2020 to increase preparation for agribusiness and finance students entering their respective professions. Agribusiness and College of Business faculty joined to create and teach a course that seeks to develop professional skills among students to increase confidence in their emotional intelligence and networking skills as they prepare to enter the workforce. In the Fall 2023 semester, instructors added a mentoring component for students in their desired career field. Based on student's career goals, mentors were solicited and paired with students based on faculty knowledge of the mentor and student's aspirations. This was a discussion process between faculty and student to try to find the best fit. Students (n=22) were surveyed at the end of the semester to determine the mentoring program's effectiveness and to make improvements for future classes. Using a rating scale of extremely satisfied (5) to extremely dissatisfied (1), students rated the overall experience with the mentor positively with an average of 4.05. Students responded to a series of open-ended questions related to expected goals of the mentorship process; expectations that were not met; most important thing they learned from mentor; and ways for faculty to improve the experience. The open-ended questions provided meaningful feedback for improvement. Specifically, most students preferred having the mentor selected by faculty based on their career goals and resume. Students also suggested more mentor reflections, minimum required meeting times with mentors, and possibly have mentors come to class as speakers. Overall, faculty plan to make modifications and continue the mentoring program for future classes.