Honors program mentors have been selected for the 2019-20 academic year in the U of A's Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences.

Seven honors students will serve as mentors to incoming freshmen in the honors program. The group includes:

• Alyssa Ferri, senior, Canandaigua, New York; environmental, soil and water science
• Guillermo Tellez, senior, Fayetteville; poultry science
• Ian Gilbert, sophomore, Springdale; animal science
• Shea Fitzgerald, sophomore, Holden, Missouri; agricultural business
• Caleb Parker, sophomore, Carlisle; agricultural leadership
• Ruth Ann Buckner, sophomore, White Hall; food science
• Aryn Blumenberg, sophomore, Conway; human nutrition and dietetics

Ferri and Tellez will serve as co-lead mentors.

Each mentor is assigned to honors freshmen and responsible for building relationships. Through this relationship, mentors are expected to provide guidance from a student perspective, clear up misconceptions and engage the students with activities both in and out of the classroom. The mentor is viewed as a support network for the students.

The new team and each member's experiences help incoming freshmen better prepare for their first year.

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture. For more information about Bumpers College, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter at @BumpersCollege and Instagram at BumpersCollege.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2.7 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.