In 2020, Elon University became one of ten institutions in the inaugural cohort of the American Council on Education (ACE) inclusive learning community called the Learner Success Lab (LSL), with an institutional focus on Mentoring for Learner Success. Elon’s 2030…

Recently the Council for Undergraduate Research (CUR) updated their definition of undergraduate research. The change was made in an effort to broaden the scope of undergraduate research (UR) and give attention to issues related to equity, diversity and inclusion. The…

Over the summer, I was reintroduced to the literature surrounding peer mentoring as a result of being a co-leader for the Center for Engaged Learning Research Seminar – (Re)Examining Conditions for Meaningful Learning Experiences. My lens through which I often…

Brantmeier (2013) outlines a strategy for adopting a pedagogical approach of vulnerability that frames a co-constructed learning space between the educator and the student that both fosters trust and sustains effective diversity, inclusion, and equity efforts. The vulnerability should be mutual…

I have been thinking a lot lately about the climates we create in higher education that are giving mixed messages to members of our community, particularly around gendered relationships, often characterized by the outdated binary gender labels (Sérráno 2019) still…

We have been mentoring students for decades in undergraduate research and have always been curious about ways to enhance our craft as mentors and co-mentors. In our work we have realized the value of the Salient Practices Framework for Undergraduate…

I have a few [mentors] that have just been absolutely phenomenal. I would say that mentoring has been the cornerstone of my Elon experience. I didn’t expect that when I came in, but I have been absolutely overjoyed with the…

In order to enhance young children’s learning in the course of everyday interactions, parents often facilitate the acquisition of new knowledge by bridging, or establishing a connection between something familiar and something new (Vandermaas-Peeler, Westerberg, and Fleishman 2019). In a…

In their recent book, Relationship–Rich Education, Elon colleagues Drs. Peter Felten and Leo Lambert weave together dozens of stories emphasizing the importance of meaningful connections for successful learning and well-being in higher education. Drawing on hundreds of interviews, they offer extensive evidence of the power of relationships between learners and peers, staff, and faculty, asserting that all students should “create webs of…

by Eric Hall, Sophia Abbot, and Hannah Bellwoar In fall 2010, Caroline Ketcham and I (Eric Hall) entered into a co-mentoring relationship with an undergraduate research student who was interested in hippotherapy (horse therapy) and the potential impacts that these…