Bridge Best Practices: Mentoring for Retention

The panelists each help direct post-baccalaureate bridge programs at their home universities. Frequent, multi-faceted, and sometimes intense mentoring is key to successful bridge student outcomes, as bridge students often lack good role models and support figures related to graduate education. We will describe strategies for detecting when different kinds of mentoring is needed, and for helping to meet student needs. Some concrete examples that have helped bridge students overcome issues such as time management and transition to graduate school will be given.