Campus Connections
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About Campus Connections
Campus Connections was originally developed by our partners at Colorado State University. The program was then brought to the University of Northern Colorado in Fall 2015. CSU and UNC have both worked generously as collaborators as UCCS seeks to bring Campus Connections to Colorado Springs and El Paso County.
Mission
The mission of Campus Connections at UCCS is to provide a wellness and resiliency-oriented service-learning environment. The therapeutic youth mentoring program provides a supportive, hands-on, skills-based experience that benefits youth who have experienced adversity and community partners. The program seeks to develop knowledgeable, skilled, and self-aware students through experiential learning.
Philosophy
Through partnerships between the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) and stakeholders in the El Paso County Community, Campus Connections provides therapeutic mentoring to youth in middle school and high school, in a structured multi-level mentoring community. Youth who may not be reaching their full potential due to individual or environmental risk factors are referred to Campus Connections and matched with a UCCS student mentor. UCCS graduate and undergraduate students provide one-on-one mentorship to youth.
The Campus Connections program provides exposure to university life and allows youth to experience firsthand the possibilities of education and the value of learning. Working collaboratively, university faculty, staff and masters-level students coordinate and supervise while providing comprehensive group learning and instruction to compliment the mentorship experience and needs of the youth.
Campus Connections creates an environment in which each mentorship pairing is nested within a small mentoring group, known as a Mentor Family. The Mentor Family is typically comprised of youth in similar developmental and chronological ages. This unique feature of Campus Connections allows youth to positively interact with their peers while benefiting from their primary mentor and a community of caring peers within their Mentor Family.
The Campus Connections program provides exposure to university life and allows youth to experience firsthand the possibilities of education and the value of learning. Working collaboratively, university faculty, staff and masters-level students coordinate and supervise while providing comprehensive group learning and instruction to compliment the mentorship experience and needs of the youth.
Campus Connections creates an environment in which each mentorship pairing is nested within a small mentoring group, known as a Mentor Family. The Mentor Family is typically comprised of youth in similar developmental and chronological ages. This unique feature of Campus Connections allows youth to positively interact with their peers while benefiting from their primary mentor and a community of caring peers within their Mentor Family.
