1. Mentoring Those having torches will pass them to others. Plato The Republic

2. Why have a mentor? We all have a need for insight that is outside of our normal life and educational experience.  The most successful mentoring is driven by the goals of the mentee But remember this: in the final analysis, you can believe in your dream, you can be taught, supported, motivated and loved by others, but, ultimately, your success depends on you. You must take responsibility for your body, your mind, and for your character. Mike Schmidt, former baseball player 1995 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies

3. What is mentoring? Mentoring is a developmental partnership through which one person shares knowledge, skills, information, and perspective to foster the personal and professional growth of someone else. Mentoring is a transformational experience

4. Role of a mentee  Driver of Relationship, you have sought this relationship.  Identify the skills, knowledge, and/or goals that you want to achieve and communicate them to your mentor  Bring up new topics that are important to you at any point and give feedback to your mentor  Development Planner,  begin to develop your career path.  Resource Partner  Work with your mentor to seek resources for learning; identify people and information that might be helpful  Teacher  You bring your knowledge base to the relationship  Continuous Learner  Be open to new ideas

5. Role of the Mentor As a mentor, your primary role is to provide guidance and support to your mentee based on her unique developmental needs. These may include:  Coach/Advisor  Source of Encouragement/Support  Resource Person  Champion  Devil’s Advocate

6. Does it Work?  It is the third most powerful relationship for influencing human behavior (after the family and couple relationships) if it is working. Source: Richard E. Caruso, PhD  It is the second most important factor after education in determining a person’s professional success. Source: Korn/Ferry International  Employees who have had mentors earn between $5,610 and $22,450 more a year than employees who have not had mentors. Source: Business Finance Magazine, 2000

7. Youth Mentoring  The number one indicator of success for a child is a good relationship with a nurturing adult. Source: Fortune Magazine  Long talks with trusting and trustworthy adults who know a lot about the world and who like young people, and opportunities to learn new skills. Young people in focus group interview with the Carnegie Corporation of New York responding to the question: What do you want most in non-school hours?

8. Academia Research Support networks for women (including students) in STEM areas in academia, industry, and government are useful in helping family/career balance, negotiating organizational or departmental challenges, and in career advancement. More STEM mentoring research linked to outcome measures is needed, such as entry into STEM college majors, time-to-degrees at all degree levels, and types of college and universities. From Report from Study Group Meetings to Develop a Research and Action Agenda on STEM Career and Workforce Mentoring prepared by Yolanda S. George and David Neale, American Association for the Advancement of Science. Directorate for Education and Human Resources Programs, December 2006 Current NSF grants for undergraduate programs in STEM disciplines require programs to have a mentoring component.

9. Making in Work!  Listen  Respond  Don’t ever leave your mentee hanging. If you don’t respond, the mentee will feel rejected and disappointed. You never want to leave someone who has asked for mentoring assistance feeling uncertain about the relationship.  Don’t ever leave your mentor hanging. If you don’t respond, the mentor will feel that she wasn’t helpful. You never want to leave someone who has volunteered to help with this kind of impression

10.  Make contact frequently, and be clear on how often you will communicate, always leave a meeting with a time for the next meeting.  Respect your mentee/mentor’s experience and views even if you don’t agree.  Follow up when you make a commitment to get information.  Be appreciative of whatever you get from your mentee/mentor; learn her strengths and seek or offer advice in these areas.  Work hard to make the relationship a two-way street. This means you should always be on the lookout for information/resources that might be of interest to your mentee/mentor (e.g., articles you read or information you come across). You can learn from each other.  Be flexible and enjoy the experience!

11. Why things go bad  Poor Chemistry  Unrealistic Expectations for Mentors or Mentees  Lack of Commitment Any formal mentoring should have a “no-fault end of relationship”

12. Next Steps  The best mentoring is goal driven by the mentee  Everyone is in a constant state of transformation  Everyone can benefit from mentoring Develop your personal and professional goals and then identify those that can help you achieve t hem

13. Next Steps  Sign Up indicating you want a mentor  When you receive your mentor’s name, send an e- mail introducing yourself within 1 week and send her your availability  Ask for her to respond with a time for a face to face meeting  Before that meeting make a list of some goals that you think mentoring will help you with.  Be assertive - mentoring teaches you how to work with people in higher level positions. This can be uncomfortable but this is a safe environment to learn!

14. How to Sign Up  Mentoring applications are available on the WEST homepage  Fill out the application and return it to the Math Division office, there is a WEST Mailbox, or directly to Sue Monroe or Nathalie Darden in the math department.