CAPE mentorship program opens doors for Transylvania students
by Alexandria Lopez
The college years are a time for learning and growing — both in and out of the classroom. Transylvania’s Center for Academic and Professional Enrichment, better known on campus as the CAPE office, works to ensure that Transylvania students are ready to join an ever-shifting workforce by connecting them with alumni and internship opportunities.
Established in 2017 as a reorganization of academic student services, the CAPE office comprises several forms of experiential learning, including global and intercultural engagement (previously known as study abroad), career development and 100 Doors to Success — a program unique to Transylvania that pairs current students with successful alumni to foster professional mentor/mentee relationships.
Paving the way for professional Pioneers
100 Doors to Success was launched as a pilot program in the spring of 2015. By that fall, it was ready for a full roll out — and it’s been popular ever since.
“Nearly a third of Transy students have a mentor at any given time,” said Tracy Dunn ’90, assistant dean for academic affairs. “By the time they graduate, nearly half of Transy students have had a mentor at some point in their career.”
Kaitlyn Maes is one of the students currently taking advantage of alumni mentorship through 100 Doors — and her mentor connected her to a paid internship with the Council of State Governments, a nonprofit organization nationally headquartered in Lexington.
The 100 Doors program was “one of the reasons I picked Transy,” Maes said. “Mentorship was already built into the system.” A student worker in the CAPE office, Maes is being mentored by Sheri Beckett ’90.
As a math and computer science double major who hopes to one day work in central intelligence for the CIA, Maes appreciates Beckett’s experience as a former computer science major at Transy. “She understands where I am in the process and has been a great help to me,” Maes said, adding that Beckett has been an excellent sounding board as Maes applies for the SMART scholarship-for-service program, an initiative of the Department of Defense.
(The 100 Doors program) was one of the reasons I picked Transy. Mentorship was already built into the system.
Kaitlyn Maes, student
In addition to lunches at Tempur Sealy International, where Beckett is director of informational technology, Beckett also provided a bridge between Maes and Tina Zeff, executive lead for strategic partnerships and impact investment at the Council of State Governments, and Maes’ internship supervisor. When Zeff was seeking to hire a paid intern, Beckett, who is friends with Zeff, suggested that Maes apply and helped her funnel her application through the proper channels.
Maes secured the role as a business intelligence fellow interning with CSG’s advancement and development team, where she researches, collects and analyzes data — making good use of the skills she’s developed through her liberal arts education at Transy.
As the youngest intern ever hired at CSG, Maes appreciates the confidence she’s built through this position. “If I do something that my supervisors appreciate or haven’t seen before, they will comment on it,” she said. And her work has made a good impression — while Maes’ internship was initially intended to span 10 months, Zeff intends to extend her position by an additional year.
Maes also values the opportunity to do research-based work. “It gets my toes in the water of what I want to do,” she said, adding, “Even if it’s not the exact same thing, it’s the same concept. Knowing what I like is good before I decide what career path I want to go down.”
Seeing the world through crimson-colored glasses
Students like Maes who are involved in the 100 Doors to Success program are also eligible to participate in Alumni on Location, a CAPE initiative that allows students to travel to metropolitan areas during term breaks to visit alumni in their workplaces and connect with area Pioneers at an alumni networking social event.
In fall 2023, Alumni on Location traveled to Indianapolis and visited with local alumni including Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Griffin Jenner ’04, Mandy Wakefield ’07, psychologist with IU Health Physicians, and Erik Mudrak ’17, senior software engineer with Ellipsis Education.
The 100 Doors to Success program currently boasts 305 mentors and slightly more than 320 mentees. Students can leave the program at any time, can change mentors at the end of every year, or can opt to stay with a single mentor from matriculation until commencement.
When seeking potential mentors, Dunn deliberately selects alumni and friends of the university from a broad spectrum of majors and career stages to ensure that students see their aspirations reflected in their mentor.
“The relationship is driven by the student,” she stressed, adding that a mentor should help their mentee make connections with other people who can be part of their support network, just as Beckett has done for Maes.
As for Maes, she encourages her peers to get connected with CAPE and involved with the 100 Doors to Success program. “I ran the 100 Doors table at Pioneer Palooza this year, and I highly recommended that freshmen fill out the form to connect with a mentor,” she said. “I was able to share my experience, and I told them, ‘Don’t knock it until you try it.’”
Internships lead to long-term success for young alumni
Would you buy a new car without taking it for a test drive? Most people wouldn’t commit to a vehicle without first kicking the metaphorical tires — but for generations, students chose majors without ever getting first-hand experience in their future career fields. The CAPE office wants to ensure that students don’t leave Transylvania without taking that potential job for a spin around the block in the form of an internship.
“Usually about 40% of our students have completed internships by the time they graduate,” said Dunn, adding that summer is “peak time for internships.” Dunn and her team hope to expand the intern population even further.
“Internships are a valuable tool for students to gain practical work experience and make connections in the professional world,” Dunn noted, adding that they are often a direct link to that first post-graduation job.
Faculty agree — some of Transylvania’s majors, including digital arts and media and philosophy, politics, and economics — even require an internship to complete the major.
Several local and regional partners have consistently provided internship opportunities to Transylvanians, including Northwestern Mutual, Wrigley Media Group, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour, Kentucky Refugee Ministries, Billings Law Firm and the University Press of Kentucky.
Internships are a valuable tool for students to gain practical work experience and make connections in the professional world
Tracy Dunn ’90, assistant dean for academic affairs
And these internships offer real-world benefits — just ask Josie Cunningham ’21, whose marketing internship at Big Ass Fans led to her current role as the company’s eCommerce administrator. Or Jewell Boyd ’19, who interned for two semesters at the University Press of Kentucky where she has worked since graduation, ultimately hiring other Transy students to intern at the local publisher as well.
Contact CAPE for more information about hiring an intern or serving as a 100 Doors mentor.
