Mentoring at SUNY Empire State College is an intensive high touch relationship between a student and faculty member that officially lasts from orientation to graduation. Mentor/mentee relationships might change over time and may extend beyond the completion of a student's degree at the college.  The focus of the relationship is on the development and design of a student's degree at the college, but a mentor's role is to help guide and shape the student's experience at the college and support students in the attainment of their educational goals and objectives.  

Mentors work with their mentees on the degree planning process which is formalized in the course Educational Planning. This process is ongoing before and after the course and is best described in the Student Degree Program Planning Guide as one that "allows you a unique opportunity to take control of your academic experience as you map out a plan to enhance your life and shape your future...to identify the best degree program possible for your needs...The degree planning process begins with a reflection on your goals and an open assessment of what it will take to achieve them...your mentor will work with you to examine previously earned college credit and college-level learning acquired through your unique work and life experiences. Your goals, combined with your formal and informal prior learning, will become the basis of your academic degree. " (Message from President to Students on page 1)