Junior Mentoring

The junior year is a pivotal moment in a student's academic career. It is a time for reflecting, for identifying, and for planning--a time for discovering what matters and building one's life around it. The Junior Mentoring program at AU is a distinctive experience designed to facilitate this vital work.

The program is designed to help students reach their potential during their junior and senior years and provide the assistance they need to plan for life after AU. During the program students will participate in meetings/workshops led by faculty members in their major which focus on such topics as the identification and exploration of career and life goals; resume writing; interviewing skills; professionalism (including dressing for interviews); graduate school; and finding employment.

Students will also have the opportunity to learn about activities which can assist them in reaching their goals such as studying abroad, internships, volunteerism, participation in undergraduate conferences in their major, and more. Overall, the program will help students to identify their career and life goals and build the academic and professional skills to help them achieve those goals.

Program Details

Junior Mentoring is a year-long, 1-credit program composed of two courses: IDS3500 (1/2 credit, fall term) and IDS3550 (1/2 credit, spring). It is a required part of the AU General Education Program and the University Graduation Requirements. All undergraduate students who entered Aurora University or George Williams College under the 2014-15 academic catalog or later are required to complete the course.

NOTE: AU Online and Adult Degree Completion students are not required to complete junior mentoring.

Students will be enrolled in course sections for their academic majors. This allows the program to be catered to the needs of the student's specific major and career paths. The chair of the academic program is typically the point of contact for Junior Mentoring, but all full-time faculty members in the program are involved at some level.

Students qualify to enroll in Junior Mentoring after completing 48 credit hours, although most students will begin it after completing 60 hours and earning junior status. Students are automatically enrolled in Junior Mentoring by the University and are not able to register themselves for the course.

Junior Mentoring is graded credit / no-credit. Students receive credit for the term by completing the requirements as outlined in the IDS3500/3550 syllabus for their individual program. These syllabi are published on an IDS3500/3550 moodle shell, which students should be able to access upon enrollment in Junior Mentoring. Students who fail to receive credit for junior mentoring will be enrolled in it in a subsequent term and will need to complete it prior to graduation.

Frequently Asked Questions About Junior Mentoring

Is there a specific class time? This course is not assigned a specific day or time block and does not meet on a regular weekly basis. Each Department/School will schedule some meetings/workshops during the fall and spring terms and they will choose times that work for students in their major. Some of these meetings will be mandatory and others may be optional. In most cases, students will also have individual meetings with faculty mentors during the year. Students in larger programs will often have multiple sessions/workshops to choose from and can attend those sessions that work best with their schedules.

I am a sophomore or a senior. Why am I enrolled in "Junior" Mentoring? Although it is called "junior" mentoring and this is the most common time when students enroll, the requirements for each academic program differ somewhat, and it is not uncommon for students to begin the program at other points in their time at AU. Students qualify to enroll in Junior Mentoring after completing 48 credit hours, while students earn junior status after 60 hours completed. Each student’s situation is also different due to factors such as transfer credit and other considerations. The individual academic major programs have made recommendations as to the best time for their students to enroll in Junior Mentoring. In some cases these are sooner, and in some cases it is later. The registrar's office works with program chairs to make these determinations on an individual basis.

When will I see Junior Mentoring on my class schedule? The Registrar's Office will typically add IDS3500 and IDS3550 to students' Fall and Spring schedules in August before the term starts. In some cases, Junior Mentoring will be added to a students' schedule by the advisement office. At the start of fall term students receive information from their major/school about the first meeting. Again, there is no specific class time so students do not need to worry about this interfering with other classes they are already signed up for.

Why am I in the program at this time? Do I have to enroll in this course? The Junior Mentoring program is a requirement for students who entered under the 2014-15 catalog or later and students will be required to enroll in the program. IDS 3500/IDS 3550 is a required part of AU's General Education Program and University Graduation Requirements. Students cannot choose to not enroll in the program if it is a requirement for them.

Do I need to do anything to prepare in advance for the class? Students do not need to do anything to prepare in advance for this class (e.g. purchase supplies, textbooks, etc.). As noted above, the student's major's Departmental Chair or School's Dean will provide information at the start of fall term about first meetings/workshops.