At age 45, Roberta Ross-Fisher has achieved a good number of important career milestones, all very much related to education. She has a bachelor’s degree in elementary education; a master’s degree in K-12 reading; a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction; and has taught at the K-12 level for 16 years - "everything from kindergarten to the fourth grade, to Title I reading, to gifted students, to working with adolescents for their GEDs," she says. Additionally, Ross-Fisher has served as an associate professor, chair of a teacher education program and dean of an extension campus for Missouri Baptist University. Such impressive credentials have served her well, as well as a good number of students at WGU, for the past 19 months, since she became an elementary education mentor for WGU’s Teachers College, a job that she loves.

Students Seeking Fulfillment

She and her husband live in rural southeast Missouri, where she works out of a home office, counseling at any given time about 75 to 80 WGU graduate-level adult learners who have returned to school to pursue a second career as elementary school teachers. "My students have bachelor degrees in business, in the science fields, in computer technology. For whatever reasons, they have never felt fulfilled," she says. "At some point in their lives, they wanted to become a teacher, but life took them in a different direction.

"These individuals are people who are coming back for that second chance, that second job. They realize that in most instances there is a lot to be said for personal fulfillment and satisfaction, that there is much more to life than a large paycheck. They are very well aware that they will never get rich by being an elementary school teacher, but this is really what they want to do, and they feel passionate about it."

Typically students who have been in a WGU degree program for six months or less have a phone appointment with Ross-Fisher once each week, in addition to a once-per-week e-mail communication. Those students in the program for six months or more, and who have become acclimated to the WGU system, talk with Ross-Fisher every other week. She says she gets about 100 e-mails every day and has a personal policy of responding within 24 hours.

In addition, she leads an online learner community in language arts, where she provides academic guidance for not just her assigned students, but for all students seeking elementary education degrees, both graduate and undergraduate. She maintains these asynchronous message boards where students post questions about certain tasks or assignments they are engaged in, she explains. In addition, she participates in pre-scheduled, synchronous online chats, called "study-buddy groups," where students support each other in preparation for any upcoming assessments they may be scheduled to take.

Organizational and Interpersonal Relationship Skills a Must

While the mentor job does have its flexibility, it really takes a highly organized person who pays close attention to detail to be successful and effective. Plus, while a mentor is not required to be a life consultant, he or she definitely needs to have interpersonal relationship skills, as "the mentor-mentee relationship in nearly every instance becomes very strong," says Ross-Fisher. "There is a real bond forged between the mentor and the mentee. And certainly, while academics must remain at the forefront of our conversations, there’s always room for the personal aspect as well. . . In short, what I have observed is that as a mentor I will help celebrate the success of my students, but I will certainly also cry with them in times of sorrow."

Ross-Fisher adds that over her years as an educator interacting with students on many different levels in traditional settings, the only difference she sees in working with WGU students, is that "you simply don’t get to see the person’s face. I continually am amazed at how close I become with my students. Relationships are really what it’s all about. If it were just purely academics, I don’t know if the students would be as satisfied with WGU, nor would the mentors be as satisfied. It’s the relationships that really make the difference."