Posted on October 10, 2023 by eporter
Mentoring Central Awarded Grant to Identify Characteristics of Effective Mentors of Children of Incarcerated Parents
October 10, 2023, Durham, NC – Mentoring Central is pleased to announce that it has received a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to explore the characteristics of effective mentors who are mentoring children of incarcerated parents (COIP).
Posted on August 24, 2023 by eporter
The American Educational Research Journal Publishes the Results of an Evaluation of the Connected Scholars Program
August 24, 2023, Durham, NC – The college years are often a time of great change and new responsibilities, and it can be difficult for students to adjust to these new responsibilities without a diverse network of support. The connections, relationships, and resources available to students, called social capital, impact college students’ academic and career success, and it is vital that students have the skills or resources available to them to build their social capital during the college years in order to thrive.
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New System Administrator Joins Mentoring Central’s Team
August 24, 2023, Durham, NC – Mentoring Central is pleased to welcome Dereka McNair to our team of passionate and skilled professionals.
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Interactive, Web-Based Training Course for STEM Mentors: Now Available!
August 24, 2023, Durham, NC – Mentoring Central is proud to announce the release of a new, multimedia, interactive, web-based training course designed specifically for onboarding STEM mentors!
As the numbers of youth pursuing careers or higher education in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) dwindles, there is a growing need for support for youth who may be interested in STEM subject areas and careers. STEM mentoring programs play an important role in inspiring youth to explore their interests in STEM, and mentors must learn the skills and knowledge needed to provide high quality support to mentees who are underrepresented in these fields and build the interest and engagement of their mentees in STEM. The new Building the Foundation for STEM Mentors course is designed to provide mentors with the essential skills needed to build and maintain an impactful relationship with a mentee in a STEM mentoring program, in an effort to encourage youth of diverse races, abilities, and backgrounds to continue seeking opportunities in STEM.
Posted on July 17, 2023 by eporter
Mentoring Central Researcher Contributes to the Development of a Guide for Youth Seeking Mentoring Relationships
November 29, 2023, Durham, NC – Mentoring Central Research Scientist Dr. Rebecca Stelter joined a working group with other researchers from the National Mentoring Resource Center (NMRC) Research Board to develop a youth-informed guide for young people seeking or entering a mentoring relationship. The guide is now freely available on the NMRC website.
Posted on June 23, 2023 by eporter
Mentoring Central Seeks STEM Mentoring Programs for Participation in Study of Online STEM Mentor Training Program
June 23, 2023, Durham, NC – Researchers from Mentoring Central are seeking STEM mentoring programs to participate in usability and feasibility studies to evaluate a new online mentor training course for STEM mentors. The new course includes an adapted version of Building the Foundation, Mentoring Central’s foundational mentor training course, that contains revised content that is relevant to STEM mentoring and new content related to how mentors can support the recruitment and retention of mentees into STEM, build cultural competency, and identify, prevent, and support mentee’s exposed to microaggressions in STEM settings. Development of this course was funded through a grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS).
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New Administrative Assistant Joins iRT’s Team
June 23, 2023, Durham, NC – Mentoring Central is pleased to announce that Jamila Howard has joined our team as an administrative assistant.
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Mentoring Central Shares Effective Practices for Mentoring Programs Serving Children of Incarcerated Caregivers
June 23, 2023, Durham, NC – Mentoring Central President and Senior Research Scientist Dr. Janis Kupersmidt presented as a panelist in a live session at the 2023 National Institute of Justice (NIJ) National Research Conference last month in Arlington, Virginia.
Posted on April 24, 2023 by eporter
Mentoring Central President to Present at the National Institute of Justice National Research Conference
April 24, 2023, Durham, NC – Mentoring Central Senior Research Scientist Dr. Janis Kupersmidt will be presenting at the 2023 National Institute of Justice (NIJ) National Research Conference in Arlington, Virginia on May 23. Kupersmidt will present as a panelist in a conference session entitled Promoting Evidence-Based Youth Mentoring: The Benefits of Researcher-Practitioner Collaborations to discuss the results and policy implications from the evaluation of the effectiveness of implementing enhanced mentoring practices in mentoring programs serving children of incarcerated caregivers.
Posted on April 3, 2023 by eporter
Mentoring Central to Create New Mentor Training Course for STEM Mentoring Programs
April 03, 2023, Durham, NC – There are fewer and fewer youth pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) each year. In addition, there are many subgroups of youth that are underrepresented in these fields including girls, youth with a disability, youth living in a low-income family, youth who are or will be first-generation college students, youth who are immigrants or refugees, and youth from a traditionally underrepresented ethnic or racial minority group. STEM mentoring programs can play an important role in inspiring youth of diverse races and abilities, and from diverse backgrounds to pursue careers in STEM. In order to be optimally prepared and effective, mentors volunteering or working in STEM mentoring programs need to be well prepared to create impactful relationships with their mentees to build their interest in these subject areas.