Editor’s Note: “10 Questions” is part of a weekly series in which a prominent person in the Iowa State and Ames communities is interviewed. To suggest someone to interview, submit an e-mail request to [email protected]. This week’s interview is with Mariama Hodari, director of Student Support Services Program.

What do you do as director of the Student Support Services Program?

Generally, it is my responsibility to administer the program here at Iowa State, to manage the budget, hire and train staff. I also make sure the students have the programs that are outlined in our agreement with the U.S. Department of Education.

Tell me about the Student Support Services Program.

The organizational structure here at Iowa State is a home-base structure. The students come here and apply for the support of the program, and they get the support by either our supplying services or our sending them to places all over campus. And, of course, we remind them to talk to their professors and get to their studies everyday.

In addition to that, it’s my responsibility to make sure that there are many different kinds of services, opportunities for them to go to cultural events, opportunities to get their free tutoring.

How did the program first get started?

It started with the first grant in 1980. I’ve been out here three years, so I think the first [director] was Dr. [George] Jackson, who is assistant dean of the graduate college.

How are the peer mentors chosen?

What happens is we get funding for X number of peer mentors, and we try to be as creative as possible because we like to cover a wide spectrum of majors. So if we already have two peer mentors for liberal arts and sciences, we are really looking diligently for peer mentors in engineering or business or in the College of Design. We need to get as many majors as we can to represent as most colleges as possible.

It’s also important that one of those mentors is a grad student who acts as a mentor to the non-traditional student.

What are the requirements for applying to be a peer mentor?

Age is a factor. We like to get peer mentors who are sophomores and have a 2.5 GPA. We need to see that they are managing their own life first. And they need to really want to work with the students who are their peers.

What are the most common types of problems that you deal with?

No. 1 is the students want tutoring. The fact is, it’s illegal for us to just run a tutoring fund, but they want someone to help them with their classes.

Secondly, they want a place to connect. In the beginning, they have a peer mentor who will really keep track of them, and after a year or so they may get sick of that and decide they want to pull away. That’s OK, because that is helping them feel connected.

After the students have gone on their own with the support of the center, do you check up on them?

Yes, we check up on them because every year we have to report on their progress.

Generally speaking, the students get intensive support the first year they seek the help. Then they begin to feel self-supporting, and they do back away.

What are your personal goals or mission for the Student Support Services?

The mission statement is that we enhance our retention graduation rate by providing services. This group of students have limited income for college who are first generation at college, or are students that have disabilities seen as having some unfair disadvantages [at achieving] higher education. And so without this support, their retention rate would be much lower at the university in general, and the graduation rate would be much lower. It is our mission to provide the services in order to increase those rates.

What do you find as the most challenging aspect of your job?

Making sure that people actually know what it is that we do.

Also making sure that we do have an impact or getting the research done. We look at student performance and report it not only to the federal government, but report it to the people of the university.

What do you think is the key to a successful support program?

I think it’s important for the students to feel this is a place where they can come and talk privately with one of the counselors or collectively with one another. I feel a responsibility for helping those people graduate, and I will do anything that they ask within reason to achieve that.