Through his roles as the Dean of the University of Cincinnati – Clermont College and Professor of Management and Marketing, Dr. Jeffrey Bauer sees the struggles of today’s post-secondary students.  While his oversight of 3,700 students in six buildings, online, and through the College Credit Plus Program at UC Clermont doesn’t provide a significant amount of focused time with students, he knows the importance of ensuring that students have layers of support.

“As an administrator, I don’t get to be 1:1 with students as often as I would like,” Dr. Bauer said. “When I heard that The Chatfield Edge was looking for mentors, I saw it as an opportunity to pay it forward.”

Ohio became his home after his dad landed a position at Wright Patterson Air Force Base when he was in high school. Dr. Bauer earned his B.S.B. in Marketing from Wright State University (1988), his M.B.A. from the University of Dayton (1991), and his D.B.A. from the University of Sarasota in Management – Organizational Design/Organizational Behavior (2002).

In 2009, Dr. Bauer first connected with Ursuline’s educational legacy when he met John Tafaro, then president of Chatfield College. The two college administrators formed a friendship and served as sounding boards for one another. Years later, when Dr. Bauer learned that Chatfield College was transitioning to the non-profit student support organization, The Chatfield Edge, he believed it was an opportunity for the Ursulines to fulfill their mission in an amazing transformational way.

Dr. Bauer is inspired by the amazing students who are connected to The Chatfield Edge, especially as he sees them balancing a multitude of challenges.

“They are juggling school and work, caring for kids and parents, and excelling at the same time,” he said.

College education today requires that students have access to additional technological and financial resources to be successful. Dr. Bauer acknowledges the burden these factors place on students, especially single parents with kids and first-generation students.

“The financial burden is significant,” he remarked. “Many students need to set aside time to work while going to school. It’s a tough challenge to make the investment to pay for tuition for the possibility of what comes next, yet I see students, especially first-generation students, setting a tone and trajectory for an entire family moving forward.”

Dr. Bauer sees mentoring with The Chatfield Edge as an opportunity to provide an extra layer of support, even with a student whose educational goals are different from those he pursued. “My mentee’s goals are not like my business goals of economic forecasting,” he said. “She is pursuing occupational therapy and focused on helping folks heal and discover what they can do.”

Despite those differences, he values the opportunity to establish a didactic relationship in which he helps his mentee and learns from her. He believes that mentoring is a combination of sharing work and life experiences including passing along learnings from life’s struggles.

The Chatfield Edge is growing and needs more mentors to accompany its first-generation and non-traditional students who are enrolled in college, trade school, and certificate programs. We provide training for our mentors who meet with students about four times each semester to encourage them along their path to gain success in life through education. To find out more or to sign up to be a mentor, contact David Hesson, Director of Programs, at david.hesson@chatfieldedge.org or call 513 875 3344 x 115.