Brief Historical Overview

(NAMHE)

The National Association of Mentors in Higher Education was established in July 1999 at Fayetteville State University (Fayetteville, North Carolina) as a support system for The Mentor:  Journal of Mentoring and Field Experience.  The primary mission of the Association is to provide an avenue for enhancing the understanding of mentoring behaviors and experiences in higher education through research, theory, and intellectual exchange.

For several years, Dr. Chris Ama Ike, a psychology professor at Fayetteville State University, established and supported formal mentoring relationships between students in his classes and students in the local public school system.  As a result of those experiences, Dr. Ike was convinced that there was much research, scholarly inquiry, and practical applications waiting to be generated and disseminated in higher education. He began having conversations, both formal and informal, with colleagues about establishing a new academic journal.

In 1998, Dr. Ike began the preliminary work of establishing the journal, and by January 1999, he had established a full board of The Mentor: Journal of Mentoring and Field Experience. Within weeks a "Call for Papers" was mailed. On May 14, 1999, editorial board members from Fayetteville State University (Chris Ike, Jon Young, Ngozi Kamalu, Maxwell Twum, Doreen Hilton, Jilly Ngwainmbi, and Norma McLauchlin) met to begin planning for the first issue of The Mentor. At that meeting, the group decided that the formation of a mentoring association would be an excellent support system for the journal. The Association was to be called The Association of Mentors in Higher Education (AMHE). The first planning committee meeting of the Association was held just four days later on May 18, 1999. The group set a goal of sponsoring the Association's first annual conference on February 24-26, 2000. "National" was added to the association's name in June 1999 after much discussion. Within two months, the conference announcement and call for abstracts were mailed. The conference of February 24-26, 2002 did not materialize, but the planning committee learned many valuable lessons during the process and immediately began planning for the November 8-10, 2001 conference. The lessons learned were valuable indeed and the FIRST annual conference of The National Association of Mentors in Higher Education is held this year, November 8-10, 2001!

A vision without action is nothing but a mere fantasy. The reality of The Mentor and NAMHE would have remained in the state of fantasy without the robust and ebullient leadership of Dr. Doreen B. Hilton, Chair of the Department of Psychology at Fayetteville State University. Once the founding committee articulated the goals and objectives of the NAMHE, Dr. Hilton "took the bull by the horns" and nurtured the idea to fruition with stylistic expediency. Within a couple of weeks, she had meticulously put in place the building blocks that represent the framework for this historical NAMHE conference. As would be expected, the means of financing the project was a major concern for us. To this effect, Dr. Hilton's fund-raising efforts, enthusiasm, and creativity became the tripod system that crystallized the Journal and the Conference, and that has defined and consolidated Dr. Hilton's election as the First President of the NAMHE.

Another important figure that provided an early and sustained inspiration to the epoch of this Association is Dr. Jon Young (then Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences and Director of University College at Fayetteville State University, and now Associate Vice Chancellor for Planning and Retention at Fayetteville State University). Dr. Young's educational approach and perspective place student mentoring as a high priority in academic teaching. His expertise and resourcefulness provided the needed impetus to the Committee as it proceeded to chart the history of the NAMHE and The Mentor.

Members of 2001 Conference Planning Committee (Viviette Allen, Wynton Hadley, Doreen Hilton, Dorothy Holmes, Chris Ike, Ella Keller, Jilly Ngwainmbi, Sonia Rhodie, Maxwell Twum, and Jon Young. willingly undertook planning responsibilities and eagerly worked to accomplish them. Each Committee meeting was a productive celebration, clearly representing a step closer to a successful FIRST conference. Each member brought to the committee their creativity, enthusiasm, professionalism, and their experiences and perspectives on mentoring. This committee clearly represented a Gestalt (the whole is greater than the sum of its parts), as it evidenced by this FIRST annual conference of The National Association of Mentors in Higher Education.