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The Mentor: An Academic Advising Journal The Mentor: Ten Years Later Deborah L. Oakes, Penn State Today is the tenth anniversary of The Mentor: An Academic Advising Journal. Introduced as an online journal on January 1, 1999, The Mentor answered a critical need for professional discourse on advising issues and has since served as a “living” journal of academic advising articles, “Advising Forum” topics, and enthusiastic readers' responses. By posting updates and new material on a rolling basis rather than in distinct and separate issues, The Mentor continues to immediately disseminate new ideas about academic advising and facilitate relevant, nearly real-time conversations about advising issues. Looking back, The Mentor's success reflects not only its triumphant launch back in 1999 but also a rich and steady growth due to its important focus and a diverse readership that enthusiastically participates, informs, and improves the practice of academic advising. Several Mentor milestones stand out: By the end of the journal's first year, more than 10,000 readers had visited The Mentor, twenty-three articles had been published, and representatives from sixty-six institutions had written these articles, submitted responses to them, and/or contributed opinions to the journal's monthly “Advising Forum” topic (Greenfield, 2000). After about five-and-a-half years, nearly 83,000 visits to The Mentor had been recorded, eighty-nine articles had been published, and Mentor editors had heard from readers representing more than 190 institutions worldwide (Hart & Leos, 2001). Today, on The Mentor's tenth anniversary, we are up to 188,000 hits, 210 published articles, and contributions from members of 321 institutions that practice or are interested in academic advising. The “Advising Forum” has generated 563 reader responses, 560 individuals are members of the listserv, and 903 readers have signed the journal's guest book (M. Leonard, personal communication, December 15, 2008). You, our readers and writers, are inextricably tied to the journal's success. You have submitted articles and/or offered intriguing thoughts about subjects ranging from appreciative advising and the sophomore student to student-centered advising and learning outcomes. Your articles and comments have stimulated enthusiastic discussions in advising centers across the country and have prompted fresh topics and dynamic conversations. Thank you. We greatly appreciate your involvement and support. In case you are not already aware, you can routinely check The Mentor's Updates page for new additions or sign up to be part of the Updates Listserv and receive monthly e-mails about new journal material. The Mentor belongs to advisers, researchers, students, and all others interested in the field of academic advising. The journal would not exist without you, your ideas, and contributions. Please continue to visit The Mentor, submit your articles and comments, and keep an important dialogue going. References Greenfield, D. (2000, January 1). Happy anniversary! The Mentor: An Academic Advising Journal, 2(1). Retrieved December 22, 2008, from http://www.psu.edu/dus/mentor Hart, H. S., & Leos, D. J. (2001, October 1). The Mentor, an online academic advising journal. Presented at the 26th Annual Conference of the National Academic Advising Association, Salt Lake City, UT. About the AuthorDeborah Oakes is senior undergraduate studies adviser (editor/writer) for Penn State's Division of Undergraduate Studies, and she is the general editor of The Mentor. She can be reached at dlo5@psu.edu. Published in The Mentor on January 1, 2009, by Penn State's Division of Undergraduate Studies Available online at www.psu.edu/dus/mentor/ Privacy and Legal Statements | Copyright | © The Pennsylvania State University | All rights reserved
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