From Crisis Management to Academic Achievement: A University Cluster-mentoring Model for Black Undergraduates

Abstract

In spite of the widening racial achievement gap among U.S. college students (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011), some universities are achieving success in supporting the graduation and postcollege goals of Black undergraduates (Apprey, Bassett, Preston-Grimes, Lewis, & Wood 2014/this issue; Baker, 2006; Hrabowski, 2003; Hrabowski & Maton, 2009). Although research has documented efforts to improve students’ college academic success in mathematics, science, and engineering (Maton & Hrabowski, 2004), little research has examined the role of undergraduate support programs across the academic disciplines to bridge success for students from high school graduation through graduate school matriculation. This is a key link in the pipeline to career and lifelong achievement for Black students. The following case study describes an inclusive cluster-mentoring model for Black undergraduates at a Research I university that includes four elements—(a) student peer-advising, (b) faculty–student academic mentoring and advising, (c) culturally sensitive initiatives, and (d) organized parental support—to create high impact with measurable results. This university-based model can serve as a guide to improve and expand services that support the academic and leadership success of Black undergraduate students in other higher education settings.

Notes

The term Black, rather than African American, is used to encompass African and Caribbean students who also use program services and do not identify as African American.

Relations between Blacks and the university date from its founding in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States. Jefferson, like George Washington and James Madison, was a slave owner (Wilkins, 2002). Some of the first buildings on the Grounds, as the UVa campus is called, were constructed by enslaved workers. For generations, several faculty and students had personal servants to support their lifestyles; this practice continued after the Civil War (H. W. Allen et al., 1987).

³Elements of this program were based on a student support model at Xavier University (LA). We thank Dr. Derrick Novaris for his expertise during the early stages of the current program design.

Luther Porter Jackson (1892–1950) was an African American professor, historian, and civil rights activist in Virginia. In 1935, he founded the Petersburg League of Negro Voters and wrote a weekly newspaper column entitled “Rights and Duties in a Democracy.” He was a key figure who challenged racial segregation in the public transit system in Richmond, Virginia.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Maurice Apprey

Maurice Apprey, Ph.D., is Dean of African-American Affairs and Professor of Psychiatric Medicine and Neurobehavioral Sciences in the School of Medicine at the University of Virginia.

Patrice Preston-Grimes

Patrice Preston-Grimes, Ph.D., is Associate Dean of African-American Affairs, Director of the GradSTAR Program, and an Associate Professor in the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia.

Kimberley C. Bassett

Kimberley C. Bassett, Ph.D., is Assistant Dean of African-American Affairs and Director of the Peer Advisor Program at the University of Virginia.

Dion W. Lewis

Dion W. Lewis is Assistant Dean of African-American Affairs and Director of the Luther P. Jackson Cultural Center at the University of Virginia.

Ryan M. Rideau

Ryan M. Rideau is Director of Undergraduate Diversity Initiatives & Assistant Director of the Undergraduate Research Institute at the College of Liberal Arts & Human Science at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.