Mentor a college student

Mentor a college student

CATALYST Mentorship Program

A good mentor can help a young professional find their way.  

Mentor a college student through the CATALYST program

If you want to influence the success of upcoming professionals, turn learners into leaders, share your knowledge and insights, grow your own leadership and mentoring skills and get exposed to new ideas in your field, consider mentoring a student in the College of Public Health and Human Sciences.

Student mentees range from new freshman to graduate students and will be studying in any one of the majors, minors or certificates offered by the college.

How much time and effort should I plan to commit?

The minimum expectation is to meet in person or over the phone/virtually once a month for one hour, from October to May.

And like anything in life, the more you commit to your mentoring relationship, the more benefit you’ll both receive – and the more you’ll make a difference.

Mentorship in action

As a young adult, Michelle Meierotto, ’02, wished she had a strong professional female role model. When the College of Public Health and Human Sciences introduced its CATALYST Mentoring Program, Michelle jumped on the opportunity.

“My view of the professional world is that the only way we can remain professional is to share our information,” Michelle says. “We can bring up the whole profession by sharing. It helps us all in the long run.”

See how Michelle strives to be the role model she wishes she had.

How does it work?

Step 1

Review the CATALYST program handbook.

Step 2

Submit the mentor application form no later than September 10

Step 3

Complete and sign the Conditions of Volunteer Service form and send to [email protected]

Step 4

Mentees will be provided access to a database with mentor profiles upon completion of an orientation and will be able to indicate preferences for potential mentors. The information in the mentor application will be used to build your mentor profile. The CATALYST coordinator will contact mentors and mentees to confirm details about their respective mentoring match by late October.

Step 5

Mentees initiate contact with their mentor and organize the first meeting. The expectation is to arrange a one-hour meeting approximately every month (October through May) for a total of eight meetings over the entire academic year. These meetings can occur via Zoom, phone calls or in-person meetings. If both parties wish to continue the mentorship partnership, they can determine how long they both wish to continue. Student or mentors who wish to withdraw from CATALYST will need to contact the CATALYST coordinator.

Step 6

Mentees will work on a number of personal and professional exploration activities in the program outside of meetings and may bring topics to discuss with you during meetings. In addition, mentors and students will be asked to complete a shared reading in winter term. Participating mentors will be provided with a copy of the selected book for this purpose. Book selection will be shared at the beginning of fall term.

Step 7

Mentors and mentees independently submit a program assessment at the end of the program. The brief assessment is an opportunity to speak to the strengths of the program, areas in need of improvement and suggestions for the future.

Step 8

Certificate of Completion is distributed to mentees who have satisfied all program requirements. In addition to the certificate, students will be working toward academic project credit or a transcript-visible, non-credit leadership experience.

Tips for a successful mentoring experience

  • We ask that you commit to participate in the program at least for an entire academic year (September through May).
  • Devote at least one hour each month to the mentoring partnership via Zoom, phone calls, email or in-person meetings.
  • Be respectful of each other’s time and honor meetings with your mentee.
  • If meeting in a public area or professional setting (such as an office building or coffee shop), keep the safety and comfort of each person in mind. Be cognizant that it is not appropriate to meet at someone’s home.
  • Keep personal or confidential information private. Certain safety-related issues related to sexual assault, violence, child abuse or suicide may be part of required reporting for the University. Mentors and mentees should be aware of this rule; should you choose to discuss safety-related issues in a peer mentoring meeting, you must agree to report them to the CATALYST coordinator.

Resources

Contact

Gabbi Merales Zott, MS, ATP
Director of Student Engagement

Mentorship: Making the Connection

There are many stories being written about workplace culture—from work-life balance to finding a new job and the importance of networking. And it’s not uncommon to see the concept of mentorship woven into the conclusions. But what does mentorship really mean? And how do you go about finding or becoming a mentor?