Mentoring Program for Wichita State SWE

Cassiana SchroederWSU SWE Counselorwichitaswecounselor@gmail.com

What is a Mentoring Partnership?

• Reciprocal learning relationship between mentor and mentee• Learn new perspectives on situations• Develop career development strategies and

work towards achieving goals together• Mentors improve communication and

coaching skills and contribute to their mentee’s success

• Bridge a generation gap and learn to work with others having different levels of experience

Program Expectations

• Mentors and Mentees:• Be available to meet face-to-face at least once per month

• Going to be gone for the summer? Keep in contact with your mentor through phone calls, email, etc

• Respond to quarterly surveys on how the relationship is progressing and if it is working out

• Establish any boundaries (such as off-limit topics such as politics)

• Define your expectations of one another (such as a reasonable response time to phone calls or emails, meeting durations, etc)

• Establish specific goals of your mentoring partnership• What does the mentee hope to get out of this relationship - skills,

knowledge, feedback?• In what areas does the mentor have the experience or knowledge

to help the mentee?

• Show mutual respect

Program Expectations (continued)

• Mentees: • Share your personal goals and challenges with your mentor• Establish objectives for each meeting with your mentor• Be responsible for scheduling regular meetings with your mentor• Be a paid member of SWE

• Mentors: • Share your career journey, and any pitfalls and successes that could

help your mentee• Have an interest in helping SWE members from Wichita State succeed

in school and in the professional world!

You will be provided with some worksheets with activities and questions to help guide you through your first few meetings, help you get to know one another, and set some of these goals and expectations, so do not worry if you think it sounds intimidating!

How to be a Good Mentee

• Be open to feedback• Be an active listener• Be reliable, honest, and trustworthy• Be respectful of your mentor’s time – Be

prepared and on time for meetings• Take mentor’s advice seriously – You do not

have to accept every word, but if you ignore most of it, there is no point to the relationship

• Show a desire to learn and improve

How to be a Good Mentor

• Be reliable, honest, and trustworthy• Be an active listener• Be supportive and genuinely interested in your mentee

and her success• Provide helpful feedback• Provide a fresh perspective• Offer your advice, but only if your mentee asks for it.

• Do not tell your mentee how to deal with a situation, instead help them think through their options and the various consequences of their actions so they can come to their own conclusions.

• Challenge your mentee • Challenge her assumptions and perceptions• Challenge her to set high standards and goals – build

confidence