Description
The AHANA Peer Mentoring Program (African American, Hispanic American, Asian American and Native American, an acronym used widely at colleges and universities across the nation) is a university retention effort designed to assist students at the critical point of entry to the university to adjust to the demands of college-level course work. The AHANA Peer Mentoring Program provides support to students in the first semester and throughout their matriculation at the university. This includes facilitating adjustment to university life; fostering broad understanding of university support services; and providing support networks of committed staff, faculty, administrators and peer mentors to guide the students successfully toward graduation from Cleveland State University.
Four peer mentoring programs focused on under-represented groups in higher education reach out to incoming freshmen to assist in their transition to college: Black Male Initiative (Kikundi), Black Women Initiative (Nia), Hispanic Retention Initiative (Juntos Podemos), Native American Retention Initiative (561), and Asian American Initiative (AzN). The programs operate similarly under the umbrella of the AHANA Peer Mentoring Program.
Examples of the mentoring programs include the Hispanic Retention Initiative (Juntos Podemos), which reaches out to all incoming Hispanic students to introduce them to strategies for success at Cleveland State. A graduate assistant maintains close contact with students to ensure use of peer mentoring, social and academic support services, and the career exploration process. This initiative facilitates interaction among Hispanic students with others of similar cultures to form networks of support. The AHANA staff organizes student participation in the Hispanic Awareness Week and Hispanic Community Education Forum to further enhance involvement on campus, and monitors academic progress. The Black Male Initiative (Kikundi) was established by the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs in 1991 to address the low rate of retention and graduation of African American males at the university. This initiative strives to increase the retention, achievements, graduation, and leadership skills of African American males. Participants attend workshops, lectures, off-campus retreats, intramural sports, and local and national conferences.
The AHANA Peer Mentoring Program is located in Rhodes Tower 1254, call (216) 687-9233 to learn more about the program, visit the Web site at http://www.csuohio.edu/odama/AHANA or email s.archer@csuohioledu.