College Establishes the Martin Center for Mentorship in Communication

Above: The new Martin Center for Mentorship in Communication is made possible through support from Thomas and Wanda Martin.

The College of Charleston announces the establishment of the Martin Center for Mentorship in Communication. The center will be housed within the Department of Communication in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences.

The Martin Center’s mission is to inspire and develop a future generation of leaders and mentors among today’s outstanding communication students, and to foster more robust relationships between those who educate and those who practice in the communications field. The Martin Center was made possible by a multi-year founding pledge by Thomas and Wanda Martin.

“We are thrilled to launch this new center focused on the critical importance of mentoring,” says Andrew T. Hsu, president of the College of Charleston. “Mentors play a vital role in translating knowledge from the classroom into practical applications that help our graduates succeed. The Martin Center will add to this body of knowledge and help build bridges between academia and the communications practice. We appreciate the Martins’ generosity in providing the endowment to make this center an enduring resource at the College of Charleston.”

A longtime mentor at CofC, Tom Martin first became involved with the College when he joined the Department of Communication National Advisory Council in 2004. He has served as the communication department’s executive-in-residence since 2007, when he retired from his post as senior vice president of corporate relations at ITT Corporation, a global engineering company. In 2016, the Martins launched the Martin Scholars Program, an experiential learning and mentoring program for graduating seniors majoring in communication.

“During my fifteen years at the College, I have seen the dramatic and positive impact that mentors have had with our students,” says Tom Martin. “My career and life have been shaped in large part by mentors I had along the way, and I believe this is an area that can be further researched and taught, so that future mentoring efforts here and elsewhere can be even more effective. I’m excited that Wanda and I can help facilitate this important work.”

The Martin Scholars Program has 70 graduates now working in a variety of fields, including communications, marketing and education. It will be one of the signature programs of the new Martin Center. The center will also manage the Department of Communications Mentor-Protégé Program, which matches members of the department’s National Advisory Council and alumni of the College with communication students (majors, minors and graduate students). In addition, the center will manage and further develop the department’s internship program. In the future, the center plans to develop online modules to help teach mentoring skills for both mentors and mentees. The center will also sponsor research into topics focused on effective mentoring.

Bethany Goodier, associate professor of communication and internship faculty coordinator for the Department of Communication, has been selected as the Martin Center’s first director. She will work with Tom Martin as well as other faculty and the department’s National Advisory Council to expand the center’s outreach at the College and in the broader field of communication.

“I am honored to be working alongside Mr. Martin, the advisory council and the faculty in the Department of Communication to direct the Martin Center for Mentorship in Communication,” says Goodier. “I’ve seen firsthand how connecting students to the right mentor can change the course of their lives and I am excited to build on the foundation of our existing programs to expand our reach to include more students, alumni and community partners.”

The Martin Center will be officially launched at a celebratory dinner on March 29, 2023, at the College. The dinner is being held as part of the 20th anniversary of the department’s National Advisory Council, which was founded in 2003. The council consists of a nationally prominent group of communication leaders who actively support the department in creating and improving communication programs, providing co-curricular opportunities, mentoring students and encouraging the many accomplishments of the department’s students and faculty.