The importance of academic supervision and mentoring

Life in college has many complexities as the students re-enter academic life after a period of absence from class work following completion of high school education.Moreover, the students undergo numerous changes physically, socially and mentally, hence the need for academic advising and mentorship. The mentors and people advising these lots of learners need to be well informed and provide adoptive and accommodate methodologies hence making the learning process enjoyable and user friendly.

When students join college and universities, almost 75% have not made decisions on the careers of interest and, in some cases; they have not developed an interest in their majors. There is some research indicating that along their study above 50 percent of the students will change their courses hence finding they had wasted some duration attending unnecessary classes and even incurred inconsequential fees and levies. Scholars and academics cite various reasons as the contributing factors to student change of course along their study period especially during the early academic days. Among the reasons cited are issues like developmental activities, inadequate information on the part of parents and learners and influence from outside the learning environment. In some instances learners get admission into courses they do not have a preference for hence their learning becomes involuntary leading to failure and unsuccessful transition.

Academic advising is a multifaceted process and does not involve only being called into an office for lectures when the grades of a learner start declining. This person plays a fundamental role in college excellence of a student since they provide contact and individualistic advice and parent like guidance. The advisor gives guidance and listening opportunity for the learner in an informal environment, hence avail support and empathy whenever necessary for the student. Academic advises may take a few minutes on a student, with talking about a few things, but one visit can create a great impact leading to success in students' college life.