Level Up Your Mentoring: Research, Strategies & Must-Take Courses
How can mentors create lasting impact in young people’s lives? This edition is packed with powerful insights to help you support mentors and mentees more effectively! We’re exploring the latest research on fostering belonging in college students, the benefits of peer-led goal-setting, and practical strategies that make a difference. Plus, don’t miss two expert-led courses designed to help strengthen relationships and support youth mental health. Whether you're looking for evidence-based approaches or hands-on tools, this newsletter has everything you need to take mentoring to the next level.
?Dive in and stay ahead with the latest in mentoring!
– The MentorPRO Team
Encouraging freshman student persistence: Manning College of Nursing & Health Sciences at UMass Boston launches their newest program
The Manning College of Nursing & Health Sciences at UMass Boston recently launched their newest program this Spring 2025 semester. MCNHS Connect is a dynamic new initiative designed to support students through the critical transition from their first to second year of college. This innovative program leverages a technology-enhanced mentoring model, ensuring that second-semester first-year students are paired with experienced mentors who can provide guidance, encouragement, and resources to help them persist. By fostering meaningful connections, MCNHS Connect empowers students with the support they need to navigate their academic and professional journeys with confidence. MentorPRO is thrilled to support this initiative and looks forward to seeing how the program grows and evolves throughout this partnership, strengthening student success and engagement.
New research: How to support students’ sense of belonging during the transition to college
The transition to college represents a critical period when students face numerous academic and social challenges. With rising rates of depression among college students, particularly in the wake of COVID-19, researchers sought to understand protective psychological factors that might help students navigate this transition successfully. This study, by Hsu, Nardini, Velez, & Raposa (2025), examined "psychological flexibility" - the ability to pursue one's values despite experiencing difficult thoughts and emotions - and its relationship to student well-being.
- Psychological flexibility (three components: openness to experience, behavioral awareness, and valued action)
- Depression symptoms
- Sense of belonging on campus
The researchers found that all three components of psychological flexibility were associated with lower levels of depression. However, only "valued action" - the component related to identifying and pursuing meaningful goals - was linked to a stronger sense of belonging on campus. This suggests that while being mindful and accepting of difficult emotions is helpful for mental health, actually engaging in value-driven behaviors may be particularly important for helping students feel connected to their college community.
How can your program foster belonging among first-year students? Read More...
Peer-led goal-setting encourages healthy habits
The recently published study in Health Education & Behavior by Wittleder and colleagues (2025) demonstrates the promising potential of WOOP (Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan) as an innovative goal-setting strategy that can be effectively delivered by peer mentors in college settings. While the study focused on reducing problematic drinking, its implications extend to any healthy habits!
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The study examined WOOP's effectiveness when delivered by student "lay coaches" - peers without clinical training who could relate to and connect with participants in a supportive, non-judgmental way. The researchers randomly assigned 86 college-aged participants to either learn the four-step WOOP strategy or a control version. In the WOOP intervention, participants identified a specific wish, imagined the best outcome, identified internal obstacles, and created an if-then plan to overcome those obstacles.
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The results were encouraging across multiple measures. Read More...
MentorPRO’s Mentor of the Year 2024 Announced!
The Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring at UMass Boston and MentorPRO are thrilled to announce Rhoda Mwenze from Strathmore University as the recipient of the 2024 Mentor of the Year Award. Ms. Mwenze has demonstrated exceptional dedication to mentoring excellence through her work at Strathmore University, one of East Africa’s leading academic institutions.
Outstanding Mentoring Achievement
Ms. Mwenze has distinguished herself through her extraordinary commitment to mentoring, regularly going beyond traditional mentoring boundaries by sharing meals with mentees and successfully completing advanced training through the MentorPRO Academy. Her approach to mentoring emphasizes structured goal-setting and detailed action planning, helping mentees chart clear paths toward their objectives.
Innovation in Mentoring
Ms. Mwenze’s mentoring approach stands out for her:
Community Partnership Spotlight: How Training Enhances Youth Mentoring
When Angela Hipp, Mentoring Coordinator at Community Connections, secured grant funding for mentor training, she laid the groundwork for an innovative partnership that is showing promising results in youth mental health support. The collaboration between Community Connections and the Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring at UMass Boston has introduced an exciting approach to mentor preparation through the Mindful Mentoring course, led by clinical psychologist Dr. Alex Werntz.
The impact of this partnership is already evident in the data from two cohorts of trained mentors. Mentors reported significant improvements in their perceived ability to support their mentees’ mental health and increased confidence in fostering emotional well-being. Six months after completing the course, mentors continue to actively implement key lessons, particularly focusing on understanding thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, youth mental health challenges, and motivational interviewing techniques... Read More.
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