The College of Liberal Arts (CoLA) at Wright State University has implemented a program in which students are paired with a mentor that assist in the development in their professional skills and prepare them for the workplace.
The program is formally known as the College of Liberal Arts Professional Mentoring Program. It was first introduced in the current spring semester of 2018.
Juniors and seniors in CoLA who participate in the program are paired with community members who have been identify as having been successful in their programs and careers, “with the aim to give our students some guidance and direction as they approach graduation,” according to CoLA Assistant Dean Jennie Buckwalter, who was charged with creating the framework of the program and oversees its management.
According to the program application, activities that mentor/mentee pairs may participate in include job shadowing, networking events, interview preparation, resume and cover letter review, business etiquette and social media/personal branding.
“This one-on-one mentoring relationship will allow for individual attention to [mentees’] career aspirations, professional development, and networking needs,” reads the application.
In the fall 2017 semester, those tasked with designing the framework of the program investigated similar program at other universities and spoke to and received feedback from community stakeholders, deans, department chairs and students.
CoLA Dean Linda Caron also met with Travis Greenwood, a graduate of the Wright State communications program and initial founders of the program, to discuss ways to equip students with tools for success, according to Buckwalter.
The program currently has 13 mentor/mentee pairs. They will debrief in about one month and program developers will receive their feedback.
A goal outlined by Buckwalter is to scale the program up and make it accessible to students within other schools and colleges at the university. Those who have worked on the program want to “create a very successful, well-run program in Liberal Arts, that would be transferable to other colleges as well,” said Buckwalter. “Our goal is to figure out the framework and how to implement it, and to share that knowledge with other colleges more broadly.”
The Professional Mentoring Program comes at no cost to students. It is currently open to any junior or senior in CoLA for the next semester.
Applications to participate in the program for next academic year are now open; the deadline to apply is Apr. 20. The links to both the mentor and mentee applications are both available on the mentoring program page on the university website.
