Helpful Documents:

"The Beacon Option" This sample handout illustrates how you can encourage students to submit their classwork as Beacon entries.   "Preparing for Beacon: Mentoring High-Achieving Students at the Two-Year College" -- This article, written by a co-director of Beacon 2008, outlines some of the procedures and the rewards that come with mentoring Beacon entrants.

• What can I do in connection with Beacon?
• How much time does it take to be involved with Beacon?
• How can I best mentor students?
• What if my college is not involved with Beacon?
• Can my students submit papers if my college is not a Beacon sponsor?
• Who can tell me more about Beacon?

What can I do in connection with Beacon?

Be a mentor. Encourage students who produce excellent work in your classes to consider submitting their work to Beacon. Work with them as necessary to polish up their papers for submission and, if the papers are chosen, for presentation at the conference. Faculty mentors of the most outstanding presenters receive a $ 100 outstanding mentor awards.

Be a reader. Volunteer to read and rank papers submitted to Beacon in your discipline. Contact your campus Beacon representative or the co-directors of Beacon 2012 for more information.

Be a moderator. Volunteer to moderate a Beacon panel in your discipline. Contact your campus Beacon representative or the co-directors of Beacon 2012 for more information

Be a supporter. Let students and other faculty here and at other two-year colleges know about Beacon. Come to the one-day Beacon Conference in June, support the finalists, and hear some excellent papers.

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How much time does it take to be involved with Beacon?

As a mentor, that depends on you and the students you work with, but most faculty and students report that the time spent is very rewarding.

As a reader, it means reading and ranking about 7-15 papers in March.

As a moderator, it means spending a few hours keeping a panel running smoothly at the June conference, and as a bonus you get to listen to some great student presentations.

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How can I best mentor students?

Keep Beacon requirements in mind when creating assignments:

• Approach: Create topics that encourage research and analysis appropriate to your discipline. Encourage original ideas. Beacon submissions must show the results of research, reflection and an original perspective.
• Subjects: There are 20 different subject areas. It is easy to find one that fits your course and your students' papers.
• Length: There is no minimum, but there is a maximum length for submissions (5000 words or about 20 typed, double-spaced pages).
• Research Documentation: References should follow the guidelines for the discipline.

Make students aware of the conference and its goals and guidelines. Put Beacon information on your syllabus, make announcements, point out posters, and encourage students to check out the conference web site.

Identify excellent papers and those with potential. Contact the students and encourage them to polish, revise, and consider submitting the papers.

Keep in contact. Encourage students to keep in touch with you about the paper and submission, but it helps for the faculty member to take the initiative. Here are some suggestions:

• Collect a list of names of students who might submit papers along with their addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses. It saves time and prevents delays if you don't have to stop and look them up.
• Have students address an envelope to themselves, so you have envelopes all ready to send reminders.
• Send students information about the Beacon Conference submission format and deadlines, suggestions for working on their papers, and information about time when you will be available if they have questions.

Help students improve and polish papers for submission. How much help is needed or desired will vary with each student and each mentor just as it varies from student to student in our classes. Mentors should read the papers carefully, advise students on ways to improve their research and presentation of ideas, and head off any potential problems with inadequate documentation of sources. Remember that you, as mentor, are endorsing the submission, so you are taking some responsibility too.

Help guide the preparation of the final draft. Make sure the student follows the submission guidelines (e.g. that the title page lists all the required information, that the student's name is only on the cover page, etc.). Remind the student of the March 1 submission deadline.

Help the student prepare for the presentation. If a student you mentored is selected to present at the June conference, it is important to help the student be prepared to present. Since many of the students have not presented at a conference before, give them the benefit of your experience. Make them aware of ways to present themselves and their papers in order to make the best impression. How much and what kind of help will vary with different students and mentors, but consider some of the following:

• Talk to the student about how best to present the material in their papers. Some presenters read all of their papers, but others – because the original is too long to be read fully in the 20 minutes allotted or because the written language would be too dense and hard for listeners to follow – prepare a presentation version that outlines the major points and develops them in excerpted form. Some presentations require and benefit from visual aids (posters, PowerPoint, transparencies, etc.), but some do not and some visual aids can distract from the presentation. Advise students about effective visual aids and help them decide what and how much is appropriate.
• Help the students prepare for public speaking. Remind the students that the presentation is an important part of what is judged at the conference along with the written paper. A presenter who reads with head down and is barely audible will not do as well as one who stands and looks at the audience and speaks confidently. Everyone can benefit from some good public speaking advice.
• Consider setting up practice sessions. Student presenters benefit from opportunities to present in front of an audience – at a faculty meeting, a special event, a student club, or just in front of an informal gathering of students and faculty. Experience speaking in front of people will help the students relax and gain confidence and provide valuable feedback from listeners.

Be at the conference to support the students and share in the experience. This is an experience that can bring faculty and students closer together. It will mean a lot to the students to have faculty there and it will make faculty proud to see the presentations. After all, much of what is involved in being a mentor is what makes good faculty and makes us glad to do what we do.

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What if my college is not involved with Beacon?

Contact the Beacon Conference co-directors for information about becoming a sponsoring college. As soon as you get information about Beacon, go immediately to your college's President, Provost, or Dean and sing Beacon's praises. For an annual contribution of $500 or more (that helps pay for the annual conference), your college can become a sponsoring college - and you might even become part of the Steering Committee.

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Can my students submit papers if my college is not a Beacon sponsor?

Yes. Submissions are welcome from all community colleges in the mid-Atlantic region.

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Who can tell me more about Beacon?

Contact one of the 2012 Beacon Conference Co-Directors:

Dr. Lori Maida
Phone: 914.606.8522
E-Mail: lori.maida@sunywcc.edu

Dr. Mira Sakrajda
Phone: 914.606.6472
E-Mail: mira.sakrajda@sunywcc.edu

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