MPA Alumni mentor Program:

What is a mentor? noun men·tor \ˈmen-ˌtȯr, -tər\: someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person

Characteristics of a Positive Mentoring Relationship Mutual respect Preparation Commitment Acceptance and flexibility Honesty and direct communication Some shared values Trust

Program Overview

Who? Carolina MPA Alumni are matched with a current student with every attempt made to match participants who share common areas of interest and/or sector.

Why? As a Carolina MPA graduate you have gone on to do great things. Now is your opportunity to share your practical knowledge and experiences with future public service leaders. This is not only beneficial for the mentee but also provides you with another opportunity to support and strengthen the Carolina MPA Program by providing students with practical advice as they (re)enter the workforce or advance their careers in public service leadership.

When? As this is the pilot starting mid-year, the Mentor Program will run from January-August, 2016. Going forward, however, the Program will begin in November and end in August of the following year.  

Expectations? The minimum requirement of engagement with your mentee for this pilot year is three (3) regular conversations throughout the year. You can do more if this is agreeable to both parties. Your mentee will initiate contact. As you get underway, both you and you mentee must complete the Statement of Mutual Understanding and should discuss it, and your partnership. This will be help build a solid basis for your relationship.

The Meetings These should be initiated by the mentee. Conversations can be conducted by phone, 2SG platform, or in-person. Additional support for how to access and use the platform will be sent to you and is available on a resource guide pdf found here.

Conversation Starters Tell me about your background… Why did you choose the Carolina MPA? Tell me about your experience as a student? Tell me about your career progression and your goals. What are some of your interests? What are you passionate about? What are you wanting to work on for your professional development?

Questions? Brandon Foster Alumni and Constituent Relations Officer foster@sog.unc.edu (919) 962-0426 Heather Duhart Director of Academic and Career Services, MPA@UNC duhart@sog.unc.edu (919) 843-1727 Jamarian Monroe Director of Student Affairs and Academic Advising jmonroe@sog.unc.edu (919) 843-7330

Thank You! Thank You for investing your time and talent to help our MPA students – we can’t do this without you!