The Mentor: An Academic Advising Journal

Statement of Purpose

The Mentor: An Academic Advising Journal is a free, Web-based scholarly publication about academic advising in higher education. The publication's goal is to provide a mechanism for the rapid dissemination of new ideas about advising and for ongoing discourse about advising issues. Toward this goal, articles in the journal are published continuously in a current issue in progress. Each article is archived three months after its date of publication. Archived articles are available online indefinitely.

Although the journal encourages the submission of research-based articles, it is also interested in articles based on the theory and philosophy of academic advising, descriptions of exemplary practices in advising and innovative advising programs, summaries of conference presentations, and other concise forms of writing related to advising.

In addition, the journal solicits responses to a monthly Advising Forum topic. Each monthly topic and the responses submitted by readers are archived at the end of the month.

Editorial Standards

The editors reserve the right to reject any submission that they consider inappropriate for the journal and to edit submissions to conform to the standards of Penn State's Editorial Style Manual, the Chicago Manual of Style, and (for citations and references) the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA).

To facilitate and expedite the publication of new ideas, the journal is not refereed in the traditional sense (i.e., it does not send blind copies of submitted articles to multiple readers for review). However, every article submitted to the journal is vetted by the journal's managing editor and general editor. In some cases, a third member of the editorial board or other experts in the field of academic advising are consulted to determine whether or not an article is appropriate for publication in the journal. In addition, any articles that include statistical analyses are vetted by a statistician.

Additional information about article standards can be found in the Submitting Articles section of the journal.

Editorial Staff

General Editor

Deborah L. Oakes
Senior Undergraduate Studies Adviser (Editor/Writer)
Division of Undergraduate Studies
The Pennsylvania State University
127 Grange Building
University Park, PA 16802-6700

Managing Editor

Michael J. Leonard
Assistant Director
Division of Undergraduate Studies
The Pennsylvania State University
120 Grange Building
University Park, PA 16802-6700

Editorial Board

Evelyn Beck (2008–)
   English instructor and transfer coordinator
   Associate of Arts/Associate of Science program
   Piedmont Technical College

Elizabeth Boretz (2006–)
   Director
   Student Advising and Learning Center
   University of California, Merced

Suzanne L. Cross (1999–)
   Research Assistant and Statistician
   Schreyer Institute
   The Pennsylvania State University

Steven L. Estes (2008–)
   Academic Advisor
   College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Advising
   Northern Illinois University

Christopher Gregory (2004–)
   Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs and
   Director of the Center for Academic Support and Advising
   Framingham State College

Peggy Jordan (2004–)
   Student Development Counselor
   The Center for Student Development
   Oklahoma City Community College

Chad M. Kimmel, Ph.D. (2008–)
   Assistant Professor
   Department of Sociology / Anthropology
   Shippensburg University

Robert S. Legutko (1999–)
   Assistant Professor and
   Field Placement Coordinator
   DeSales University

Frances Northcutt (2005–)
   Honors College Advisor
   CUNY Honors College
   Hunter College, City University of New York

Eric R. White (1999–)
   Executive Director, Division of Undergraduate Studies, and Associate Dean for Advising
   Division of Undergraduate Studies
   The Pennsylvania State University

Former Board Members

Joyce B. Buck, Penn State, (1999–2006)
Diane Greenfield, Penn State, past general editor (1999–2001); board member (2001–2004) (b. 1941, d. 2004)
Peter Hagen, Richard Stockton College of New Jersey (1999–2003)
Holly Hart, Penn State, past general editor (2001–2005)
Diane Leos, Penn State (2002–2006)
Kazi Mamun, University of Southern California (1999–2003)
Amy Stalzer (2006–2008), Georgia Institute of Technology
Lori A.VanHooreweghe, University of Northern Iowa (1999–2003)

Contact Information

Questions and comments concerning The Mentor may be directed to the journal at:

The Mentor: An Academic Advising Journal
Division of Undergraduate Studies
The Pennsylvania State University
118 Grange Building
University Park, PA 16802-6700
E-mail: mentor@psu.edu