DIGITAL LIBRARY
THE MENTORING EXPERIENCE AT UNIVERSITY
Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Veterinaria (SPAIN)
About this paper:
Appears in: INTED2014 Proceedings
Publication year: 2014
Page: 2092 (abstract only)
ISBN: 978-84-616-8412-0
ISSN: 2340-1079
Conference name: 8th International Technology, Education and Development Conference
Dates: 10-12 March, 2014
Location: Valencia, Spain
Abstract:
The university experience of a student should not just academically enriching but also socially and overall maturity of the person. That is why all people who are part of the university should contribute to the improvement and participation in efforts to that end. Therefore, students, teachers and administrative staff have a duty to engage to achieve those objectives where it is included mentoring that it is a relationship of personal development in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps a less experienced or less knowledgeable one. It is well known that the development processes of mentoring have increasing weight in the growth of students and professionals.

The mentoring at the university has been made by the teachers, who were assigned a group of students to be accompanied by the teacher during their stay at university to give them not only academic but social and even administrative support. But the great idea of mentoring is based on the participation of students, not only as recipients of aid but also as mentors, so those students with greater experience at the last degree courses which are mentors of new students. The role of mentors will be to guide new students in their incorporation into the university. The Mentoring involves an intensive interpersonal exchange between a mentor that provides support, guidance and feedback to the student that receives the action mentoring.

The structure of the mentoring system must include mentoring of incoming students and mentors students and also tutor teachers interested in mentoring to guide mentors and help them to resolve difficulties that may arise. It is also necessary to have a mentoring program coordinator, responsible for coordinating the actions of tutors and mentor.

Currently, in most Spanish universities it is voluntary the participation of teachers and students in mentoring programs and that effort should be rewarded to mentors students with the recognition of credits and giving a specific recognition of their work to tutors and mentoring coordinators programs. For a more effectively work in mentoring it is also interesting the participation of both student and proffesors in a mentoring network meeting in which the teacher and students of any university mentors can share experiences, objectives, methodologies and resources