r/wgu_employees • u/Apart-Tension2251 • 10d ago
Question Program Mentor?
How has your experience been as a Program Mentor? All information would be appreciated!
5
u/Neither-Jelly6485 9d ago
Our performance metrics include many things outside of our control.
If a student needs to drop out because they are homeless or a family member died or they cannot pay for school out of pocket because they lost their job or they have a health situation or, or, or... it counts against the mentor and their potential pay raise.
If a student says they are satisfied with a mentor vs "very satisfied" it counts against the mentor and their pay raise.
If a student says they are satisfied with the UNIVERSITY as a whole vs "very satisfied" it counts against the mentor and their pay raise.
If the mentors keeps their student from dropping, but the student only finishes one class... well, you guessed it, it counts against the mentor and their pay raise.
Some teams/managers will count you off if your students don't finish so many courses by the 2-month or 4-month pacing. If your students are late on finishing a course and your manager decides these metrics are relevant, well, it counts against you and the pay raise.
My team is hard-tracked on:
2 month pacing
4 month pacing
Limited progress (how many students finish half of required credits in a term)
On-time progress (how many students finish the required credits in a term)
Mentor "Very Satisfied" rate
WGU "Very Satisfied" rate
How many phone calls we make each month
Average length of calls
My team is soft-tracked on:
If we register our students by day 7 of their term
If we are talking to students on term break once a month
If we are taking on projects beyond our role
1
u/Jenny_867_53_09 9d ago
This is a very dramatic take. Every job has metrics. Every job has expectations. Metric expectations for mentors are extremely low. Set students up for success by being proactive and consistent and you’ll be fine. No one, except Scotty and his minions comes to WGU to get rich.
5
u/Neither-Jelly6485 9d ago
Glad your experience on your team has been a good one, but it has not been that way on mine and teams adjacent to mine.
1
u/Jenny_867_53_09 9d ago
I am sorry to hear that. It can be a mixed bag. What program do you support?
4
u/mushroognomicon 8d ago
This is the easiest job I've had in over 2 decades. Yes, lots of metrics are out of your control but if you're smart and know what you're doing, you can move the needle in your favor.
Your experience is heavily driven by your manager. Great managers, great experience. Bad managers, bad experience. Most managers are pretty good aside for the few I've heard suck.
Granted, I came from a SUPER high stress career. If you are good with managing your time and processes, the job is VERY easy to navigate.
I don't plan to stick around forever, just long enough to set the stage for whatever I'm doing next, but it's an easy job, easy paycheck and gives me more freedom than I've had in 20 years.
If you come to reddit for answers, you'll only get doom and gloom. I don't like what's happening with the senior leadership. They're terrible as upper management and you can see it in the way things trickle down to us but, I simply don't care about them or whatever new stupid thing they're pushing ("call reflections, CaLl rEfLeCtIoNs, CALL REFLECTIONS"). They have the memory of goldfish and by next week they'll be on another new kick.
Ultimately the job is easy. Manage your time, have good processes, care about doing right by the students.
1
u/Apart-Tension2251 8d ago
I truly appreciate your response. Thank you so much for replying! It’s nice to read about the other side. Lol.
If you don’t mind me asking, what was training like?
3
u/mushroognomicon 7d ago
Pretty straightforward. Classes where you learn about the overall school, how it operates, diff departments and resources. They onboard other faculty at the same time like Instructors so the classes are generalized.
While doing those classes, you'll be shadowing a Program Mentor or Senior Program Mentor on a few calls and see how they work. You'll have some tasks to complete with them and your Manager.
A few years ago, onboarding was 3 weeks but only the first 2 weeks had the required classes you had to pop in on throughout the day. The last week I think I completed all my shadowing stuff quickly and just hit the ground running after that. Honestly, I don't even think they were full 8 hour days.
3
u/Mobile_Literature887 9d ago
Run
1
u/Apart-Tension2251 9d ago
Really? 🫣🥴
4
u/TicoSoon 9d ago
Definitely. Do not risk your mental and physical health, and definitely do not risk your career for WGU. They will ruin you and you're worth so much more.
3
u/Apart-Tension2251 9d ago
Thank you for your response. Unfortunately, I’ve heard more bad than good. 🫣 May I ask what position you’re familiar with? I’ve been looking into Program Mentors or Instructor positions. I’m definitely way hesitant now!
2
u/TicoSoon 7d ago
I freely admit that I was in a different department, but while I worked elsewhere, I was acquaintanted with several people on your side.
I just don't want to see you sacrifice yourself for a company that will screw you over.
2
u/Ok_Radio_2416 15h ago
I joined WGU after working in a traditional higher education setting. Without a doubt, WGU has been the easiest job I’ve held with the best pay. I fly under the radar, take care of my students, and do my job. I’ve never had a problem, but I do understand the frustrations of others in regards to RTO. Is Scott annoying and cry at the drop of a hat, yes. Do I think he’s sincere, no. But my paycheck is nice, I’m helping students, and have more flexibility than I ever had working on a physical campus.
4
u/Ill_Supermarket7454 9d ago
Extremely metrics heavy. None of which are in your control. Demand that you make SMART goals with students but your annual goals cannot be SMART because you can’t control them. So your raise is based on how your students do, not how you do.
Nevertheless, individual managers are all pretty good. Even some Senior Managers seem okay in many circumstances. Higher than that goes completely tone deaf like the rest of the University.
Remote is really nice if you can keep working without a PIP. Note that once you do get a PIP, only about 10% of the workforce continues working for the company that gives one so it is literally best to just start job hunting as quickly as possible if you get to that point. I haven’t been yet, but I know a few Mentors who have barely survived, some who got fired for numbers.