• Collage of six students in their cap and gown at various campus locations.

    Recent graduate highlights

    Pictured (clockwise from left): June Lim, Abigail Lee, Eden Vansicklen, Hannah Powless, Samantha Henige, Rakshya Shah

  • Two students meeting with two peer mentors for a group session.

    Participant learning and development opportunities

    The program promotes a broad variety of learning opportunities and experiences that foster the intellectual and personal growth of each participant. Pictured: Peer mentors Jin Woo and Lucía Álvarez Soto with their mentees.

  • Peer mentor and mentees posing on a rickshaw.

    Mentor-mentee relationship building

    Peer mentors and their mentees bond beyond their regularly scheduled meetings by attending cultural events such as the International Festival on campus. Pictured: Peer mentor Tina Javeloza with her mentees.

  • Three participants standing outside a building on campus and having a conversation.

    Development of new personal support system

    Program participants develop new relationships with one another and continue to support and encourage one another throughout their college careers.

  • Screenshot of six mentors during a virtual study session on Webex.

    Virtual study sessions

    Academic mentors facilitate weekly study sessions from a distance. Pictured: Abigail Lee, Mia Sawyer, Eden Vansicklen, June Lim, Menuka Ghalan, and Hailie Wadley.

OFFICE HOURS UPDATES:

Beginning Monday, July 12, Multicultural Affairs for Students will be resuming our regular Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. office hours. Please note that some of our staff members are working remotely on certain days. We highly recommend that you schedule an appointment by calling (269) 387-4420 or by contacting our staff members directly to ensure that they will be available to meet with you when you arrive. You may also use the Contact Us form to send us a general inquiry email. 

At this time, all faculty, staff and students must complete the daily health survey before coming to campus. Keep up-to-date on the University's response to COVID-19 on the WMU's COVID-19 website and WMU's safe return plan for fall 2021 on the Safe Return Plan website, and review the updated mask policy announced on Tuesday, June 22. Be Smart. Be Safe. Be Broncos.

The Mentoring for Success Program is a peer mentoring program designed to promote program participants' success at Western Michigan University through increased acceptance rates into participants' intended majors and increased college graduation rates. The program is geared toward achieving specific academic and developmental goals that are focused on participants' overall development. The program is optimized for and most beneficial to first-year and second-year students.

Our academic mentors provide undergraduate students in our target population academic support through one-on-one and small-group mentoring sessions, during which they may tutor, facilitate discussions, help students locate resources, and promote academic and life skills development. They also model effective student practices and attitudes and facilitate weekly study sessions for participants in our target population. Our mentors come from diverse backgrounds and are committed to helping students succeed academically, socially, emotionally, and professionally.

Our program strives to ensure that all program participants are given the full opportunity to discover and develop their talents, interests, and unique potential, and to provide a learning-centered and student-centered environment that presents the context for intellectual, cultural, professional, and personal growth during the college experience. Program participants will learn to become independent, confident learners and develop good study habits, learning techniques, and time management skills that will enhance their education and college experience, as well as to enable them to achieve a post-secondary degree.

The Mentoring for Success Program is funded by the State of Michigan's Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity's King-Chávez-Parks Initiative, as well as WMU's Multicultural Affairs for Students and Office of Diversity of Inclusion. The program was formerly known as the Steps Toward Exhibiting Mastery Program. References to the former name will be found in our participant and former staff testimonials.

How to participate

AS a program participant 

As an Academic mentor

Safety procedures

Please report any suspected or alleged instances of wrongdoing or misconduct or concerns about inappropriate service provisions and practices by any peer mentor to the program director at (269) 387-3316 or to the director of Multicultural Affairs for Students using the Student Complaint Form. In case of a medical emergency or an immediate threat to your personal safety, call 911. For non-emergencies, call WMU's Department of Public Safety at (269) 387-5555.

For detailed policies and procedures on what to do in case emergency occurs while you are on campus, refer to WMU emergency procedures. 

The WMU Hotline at (269) 387-1001 and the University's home page are WMU's official sources for information on WMU closings due to weather or campus emergencies.

WMU nondiscrimination statement

Western Michigan University prohibits discrimination or harassment which violates the law or which constitutes inappropriate or unprofessional limitation of employment, University facility access, or participation in University activities, on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, protected disability, veteran status, height, weight, or marital status.