National Weather Service Tallahassee Student Mentorship Program Kelly G. Godsey –NWS Tallahassee Jacqueline S. Rubio –Florida State University/Department of Meteorology Andrew I. Watson –NWS Tallahassee

Current Student Programs Student Career Experience Program (SCEP) NWS Operational Meteorology Class -Two credit hour class offered each spring semester NWS Student Internship Class -One student each semester (6 hrs/week) Student Volunteers -Assist in office research

Mentorship program beginnings Additional undergraduate students expressed desire to work with the NWS in some capacity while enrolled at FSU This additional student interest led to creation of another program Program is designed for undergraduate students, particularly at the junior level

Mentorship Program Overall goal of program is to help student make a fully informed decision about career direction following graduation Originally designed for year round involvement The student is expected to work a minimum of 20 to 30 hours a week following same scheduled time as their mentor (midnight shifts encouraged, but optional) Self-paced training modules developed to allow the student to apply undergraduate studies to operational environment

Course Program

Trial Program Goals Determine usefulness of program to student Assess program’s impact on office operations Refine program schedule and modules based on student feedback

Results Student began work in May 2007 Initially mentor and student set schedule of 30 hours per week with the student working partial midnight shifts. By end of summer, the student was working complete shift rotations, including midnight shifts.

Results The student became an asset to office by learning to produce: - Short Term Forecasts - Routine Forecast Products The student chose to place increased emphasis on understanding Doppler Radar This decision made the student even more useful to our office during busy summer convective season.

Student Experiences Gained meteorological and operational knowledge –Became familiar with NWS products and services –Experienced rotational shifts of forecaster –Honed in on areas of greatest scientific interest Greatly beneficial to academic coursework during following semester Led to more focused career direction

Student Experiences Continued alliance between student and mentor Rotational schedule problematic when classes resumed –Difficult to establish work routine –Limited hours

Changes to Program Continuation of program into Fall Semester cancelled due to student course load and rotational shift constraints Course schedule redesigned for comprehensive study in summer only Communication between student and mentor will continue beyond the summer

Expansion Recruiting of interested students to begin in February 2008 Exploring possibility of offering program as a directed individual study for course credit in future Other collocated NWS Offices?

Thanks for listening! Questions? Contact Information: Kelly Godsey NWS-Tallahassee (850)