Student Guide

Thank you for your interest in the College Foundation Mentoring program. The response to the program has been very encouraging and we are off to a good start.

The purpose of this guide is to provide details on the program and to help you begin the process of establishing and maintaining a mentoring relationship.

What is a mentor?

The primary objective of the program is to provide you with a valuable source of personal and career perspective and guidance that enhances what you might receive from traditional sources such as parents, academic advisors, teachers, coaches and career services organizations. Mentors are not asked to be surrogates for any of these individuals or organizations.

One of the strengths of the program is that the extent of personal contact and interaction will evolve naturally and be determined by you and your mentor to suit your individual interests and schedules.

All mentors are graduates of the College and current or past Foundation board members. They all lead busy lives but have enthusiastically volunteered for this program simply because of their interest in you, their hope and desire to make a positive difference in your life, and the personal gratification that comes from this kind of relationship. They can become a valuable and important link for you between your undergraduate academic and personal experiences and challenges and the realities of post-academic life that follow.

Finding a mentor

The process begins when we receive your application to the program. We then try to find a mentor match for you from the group of Foundation mentor volunteers. When a match takes place primarily depends on the number of volunteers available at any point in time and the ability to match mentors' interests with those of the student applicants. We will stay in touch with you regarding this process as it moves along.

Once a match has been made, all contacts and meetings will be worked out directly between you and your mentor at mutually convenient times and venues. Your mentor will already have some of your background from your application, so one of your first efforts should be to learn as much as you can about your mentor's background and interests. All of the mentors have bios they can send you.

Staying in touch

The success of each relationship will largely depend on the mutual commitment of mentors and students to initiate contact and dialog and to get to know each other. This can be accomplished primarily through phone conversations and e-mails.

General guidelines for contact:

• Minimum of monthly communication between you and your mentor - e-mail, phone, etc.
• Personal contact a couple of times during the year - this could be during a mentor's trip to Charlottesville, a trip you might make to visit the mentor or some other convenient venue.

This is an exciting opportunity for all of us - we want it to be a great success and work well for everyone. Thank you for your very important and thoughtful participation.