Academic mentoring as a university extension strategy

Abstract

Objective: To report the experience of the Student Mentor Extension Project, developed at a health sciences higher education institution located in the capital of Pernambuco, Brazil, highlighting its effects on the academic adjustment of first-year undergraduate students and on the promotion of reflections about life projects among public high school students. Experience report: This is an experience report grounded in the methodological framework of the Maguerez Arch, involving peer mentoring actions with incoming undergraduate students, articulated with an extension intervention carried out in a public high school. The activities included systematic follow-up of first-year students throughout the academic semester through face-to-face and remote meetings aimed at welcoming, academic guidance, and the strengthening of planning skills and student autonomy. As a final stage, an extension activity was conducted in a public high school, consisting of educational lectures, psychoeducational dynamics, and reflective writing exercises focused on future projects and educational trajectories. Final considerations: The project contributed to academic integration, the strengthening of student autonomy, and the broadening of educational perspectives, reaffirming mentoring articulated with university extension as a formative, preventive, and socially relevant strategy within both higher education and basic education contexts.