A new playbook outlines how universities can build mentoring systems that support student retention and career readiness across multiple campus stages. It distinguishes peer mentoring for new and active students from alumni and industry mentoring for graduating students, and emphasizes matching design and program structure. The guidance highlights pre-enrollment mentoring options, structured training and lightweight tracking for volunteer mentors, and optional chemistry-check matching to reduce mismatched pairings. It also recommends clear tiers—buddy-style support, informational one-off meetings, and longer-term mentoring where feasible. For institutions under pressure to improve outcomes, the framework focuses on operational details that affect whether mentoring scales beyond pilots.