The number of Latino students in good standing at NIU is increasing, thanks to the University Resources for Latinos’ mentoring program.

URL Director George Gutierrez said the Exito program, instituted six years ago, has helped increase the percentage of graduating Latino students from the low 30s to more than 40 percent, which compares to a university-wide graduation rate of about 50 percent.

Gutierrez credits the program, which will begin this month, with an increase of Latino students staying in good academic standing, citing the Fall 2000 numbers. A report compiled by Gutierrez shows 70 percent of the 1,090 Latino undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in the fall remained in good academic standing throughout the year.

There are currently 600 Latino students slated to attend NIU in the fall, with 59 potential mentors ready to be part of the program. Gutierrez said about 150 total mentors are needed.

Derived from CAHC 490, a workshop in counseling taught by Gutierrez, the program matches current Latino students in good academic standing with incoming

freshman and transfers and works collaboratively with the Peer Connections mentoring program, through Advising Information and Referral Services.

Lori Lawson, Peer Connections coordinator, said the two programs share some of the mentor-training sessions, allowing mentors to self-select which program to work with.

Peer Connections is the largest and most generalized mentoring program on campus, serving all majors and ethnicities, she said.

“Mentor programs do make a real difference in helping students adjust in that crucial first six weeks of school,” Lawson said.

Students who feel they are part of the university community tend to stay in school, she added.

Gutierrez said having contact with a familiar face helps new students acclimate to the university. New students also are contacted regularly by a member of the retention team, which includes graduate students from law, sociology and counseling departments, and are informed of the campus support services available.

“It’s a coordination, all together, and we work through the semester … getting to know the mentor, helping the mentor and perhaps checking on their academic progress,” Gutierrez said.

The team also tries to monitor new students’ social adjustment to college life.

“I believe that kind of approach has increased the retention of students,” he said. “We know from research that a lot of students, especially Latinos, are staying at Northern because they find a friend. And that’s one of the practical results of the mentor/mentee attachment.”

There are several reasons why some Latino students may have problems starting and staying in school, Gutierrez said. For some, high school doesn’t provide the academic preparation necessary to succeed in college.

He said lack of knowledge on the part of a student’s family may result in little academic support for the student. Financial trouble is another factor, and some students favor jobs over academics to stay afloat financially.

Gutierrez said minority students tend to stay involved with members of their own groups, which can be limiting.

“We try to tell them, seek out, reach out, go out of yourself,” he said.

New students should observe how well other students do, he said, and “get to know them and work with them, regardless of who they are.”

The program also encourages students to get to know their professors better.

Gutierrez said the mentoring program is becoming more focused, and he predicts future success for the program.

“We could make a big difference in the next three or four years,” he said.

Involving parents with programs such as PALS, or Parents Advocating for Latino Students, working closely with academic departments and reaching out to high schools and eighth-grade students are other ways the program prepares Latino students for successful college careers.

To volunteer to be a mentor for Exito, which means success in Spanish, students can call the URL at 753-1987. For more information or to volunteer for Peer Connections, call Advising Information and Referral Services at 753-0058.