Faculty Mentor Profile: Benjamin Ayers, PhD.
by Jennifer Nash

Faculty mentors within the Undergraduate Leadership Scholars Program play a vital role in the development of individual students. Mentors are responsible for providing feedback and suggestions for leadership development for 1-3 Scholars over the course of the students' first year of involvement in the Scholars Program. The program objectives for the first year are to increase students' knowledge of leadership models and theories, contribute to students' self-awareness of competencies that contribute to their leadership effectiveness, strengthen students' interpersonal communication and networking skills, provide students opportunities to practice their teamwork skills, raise students' awareness of civic and social issues, and increase students' commitment to service and volunteerism.

The Institute for Leadership Advancement is grateful for the twenty different faculty mentors involved in the Scholars Program. We would like to spotlight just one of the many inspiring and hard working individuals who are devoting their time to the leadership development of our students.

Dr. Benjamin Ayers is an Associate Professor of Accounting in the Terry College of Business. Dr. Ayers teaches and conducts research on the effects of taxes on security prices, business decisions, and corporate acquisitions. In addition to his research, Ben is a talented and sought after teacher. He was named one of the outstanding teachers among Terry College faculty during the year 2002-2003. In 2001, Ben was awarded the Richard B. Russell Teaching Award which annually recognizes three outstanding undergraduate teaching instructors at the University of Georgia. The award is one of the most prestigious teaching awards presented to faculty at UGA. He is also one of our most popular faculty mentors.

In the words of his mentee, Class of 2005 Scholar Paul Shoukry, "While Dr. Ayers has given me extremely beneficial advice over the past year as a mentor, I have gained the most as a mentee through simply observing the kind of genuine dedication and drive for success that Dr. Ayers exhibits in all of his endeavors."

It is easy to see Ben's dedication to his students when you talk with him about his role as a mentor. He views his responsibilities as three dimensional. He describes this relationship below:

(1) Program of Study - Faculty mentors are typically matched with leadership scholars based on the scholar's program of study (e.g., accounting, finance, etc.). Accordingly, the faculty mentor serves as a resource to provide insight regarding the scholar's program of study in general and more specifically how the leadership program (and the related qualities explored in the leadership program) relates to the scholar's program of study. In this role, it is common for the mentor to serve to encourage, monitor, and motivate the scholar as she/he progresses in the leadership program and chosen field of study. In addition, the mentor serves as a sounding board to discuss specifically how the leadership activities relate to the student's field of study.

(2) Career - A second role for a faculty mentor is to serve as a source of information and sounding board regarding potential career opportunities related to the scholar's field of study. In my personal discussions, this has taken the form of both short-term and long-term aspirations as well as how the scholar may best prepare in the short-term for her/his long-term career objectives. I find this to be one of the most enjoyable parts of being a mentor - i.e., helping a student identify long-term goals. I also note that one part of this role is to assist the student to identify her/his aspirations versus identify the goal for her/him.

(3) Personal Leadership Action Plan - An integral part of the leadership program is developing and implementing a personal leadership action plan (PLAP). In this capacity, the mentor receives the results of various assessment tests the scholars take to identify areas in which the scholars may want to improve. For this particular aspect of mentoring, the basic roles of the mentor are to make sure there is a meaningful dialogue regarding the test results (i.e., areas in which the scholars scores both high and low), encourage the scholar to critically think about the test feedback and identify areas in which she/he would like to improve, and assist the scholar in identifying an action plan designed for the specific objectives.

Sonia Dowla, Class of 2005, sums it up by saying: "I've enjoyed having Dr. Ayers as a mentor for several reasons. He is incredibly encouraging and supportive of everything that I do and makes me truly believe in myself. He's very patient and always makes time for his students whether it's for help with the work in class or any other reason. I think the mentoring aspect of the ILAD program is great and I've really benefited from having him as a mentor this year." Aaron Konnick, Class of 2004, adds "He gave me some great advice…. Dr. Ayers is easy to talk to and very understanding of the challenges associated with life as an accounting major."

The Scholars Program and the ILA could not say it better then Ben and his students. Thanks to faculty members such as Dr. Ayers, Scholars are developing their leadership talents and truly becoming a New Class of Leaders.