UPlift: UPCEA Mentorship Experience
Mentorship Has Powerful Benefits
A very important goal for UPCEA is establishing equity in the field of higher education by providing unique member experiences and support to help our members navigate their careers. Connecting UPCEA members with leaders in the higher education community helps develop professional relationships for personal growth and career success through:
- Growing your network
- Gaining insights
- Receiving feedback
- Learning new skills
As an UPCEA member, we invite you to join us in this effort by becoming a mentor, mentee or both!
View the informational webinar recording where members of UPCEA’s Mentoring Advisory Board discuss:
- Mentoring Program Pilot Overview
- Application Process
- Mentee Selection
- Program Mentors
- Participant Expectations
Learn more from our webinar
Launching UPCEA’s Mentoring Program Pilot: Information for Prospective Mentees
Originally held November 18, 2021 2:00 PM ET
Become a Mentor
You may not think that you have much to offer at this stage of your career, but engaging with someone who has had an entirely different background can be immensely rewarding for both of you. Mentors can exert a positive influence on the lives of others, which can lead to increased career opportunities for that person.
The benefits of mentoring are a win/win:
- Change someone’s life
- Help others achieve personal career gains
- Enhance your own leadership skills
- Help shape the leaders of tomorrow
Mentoring others will also help you enhance your own leadership skills. When you teach someone, you truly become a master on that subject. You not only reinforce valuable leadership lessons, but you also question and refine your own thinking and approaches.
"Being a mentor is such a rewarding experience for both parties. What we do in higher education is so unique, it's wonderful to have an outlet to share these experiences and support others." Susan Roth, Executive Director, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Mentoring Roles
As a mentor you will focus on your mentee’s total development and facilitate their growth by:
- Coaching on a specific issue(s)
- Teaching a particular skill(s)
- Sharing resources and networks
- Challenging mentees to move beyond their comfort zone
- Creating a safe learning environment for taking risks and learning from mistakes
Help shape the leaders of tomorrow. Become a mentor today.
Become a Mentee
As a mentee, you will gain knowledge from the expertise of your mentor, receiving valuable feedback in key areas, such as communications, interpersonal relationships, technical abilities, change management and leadership skills. You may develop a sharper focus, learn relevant skills and gain a trusted knowledge source and confidant in the higher education space.
Mentee benefits:
- Gain from the mentor’s expertise & experience
- Receive knowledge & support for career growth
- Develop a sharper focus on what is needed to grow professionally within the institution
- Learn specific skills relevant for personal & professional growth
- Network with a more influential employee
- Gain a friendly ear with which to share frustrations as well as successes
As a mentee, you may also acquire knowledge about the institution’s culture and nuances that can be critical for success. This could result in adapting more quickly to the institution’s culture and your role in it.
Mentee Expectations
- Willingness to learn: Communicate desired goals
- Dedication: Work on personal and professional growth
- Transparency: Bring questions, confusions, concerns, and problems. But also bring successes, alternatives, and ideas.
- Clarity: Be clear what you need, and if an activity or suggestion isn’t of interest, say so
- Openness: Be open to discussions and constructive alternative viewpoints
"It was a fantastic experience. I went into the relationship with certain goals in mind and finished it with so much more than I expected. My primary purpose in applying to UPlift was to grow in my job but I feel like I've grown in many aspects of my life personally and professionally thanks to the advice and support my mentor provided." UPLift Mentoring Pilot Program Mentee
Mentorship Pilot Program Overview
The initial Mentorship Pilot Program is open to all UPCEA members and will be limited to ten pairings while we explore and learn together.
- Open to all UPCEA members (check to see if your university is a member)
- One-to-one pairings, 20 will be part of the pilot (10 each Mentors and Mentees)
- Attend January 31, 2022 orientation
- Approximately 10-hour time commitment for program duration (approximately one and a half hours per month for six months). This does not include optional program meetings/events TBA
- Maintain confidentiality with all participants
- Participate in end-of-pilot assessment
If you would like to be part of this pilot program, please complete and submit the application below by January 7, 2022.
Mentor/Mentee Application Process
Mentor/Mentee Application Process
The application form questions include professional and personal experiences, skills, values, and knowledge that you would like to share as a mentor or that you would like to gain as a mentee three goals you would like to get out of this program preferences about mentor/mentee any special accommodations needed.
If you would like to be part of this pilot program, please complete and submit the application below by January 7, 2022.
Submit application by January 7, 2022.
Candidates will be notified by January 21, 2022
Pilot Timeline & Key Dates
Pilot Timeline:
- Mentors/Mentees paired for six month: February 1 – July 30, 2022
- Introduction/Orientation: January 31, 2022 (Zoom –recorded for those not able to attend)
- Mentor/Mentee supporting materials distributed at Introduction/Orientation
- Mentee reaches out to Mentor to schedule an initial meeting within one week from successful pairing.
- After first meeting the Mentor/Mentee should establish a regular schedule for the 6-month pilot
- UPCEA Annual Conference face-to-face opportunity: April 11-22, 2022
- Closing Event: July 29, 2022 via Zoom meeting
Mentorship Advisory Board
Advisory Board Members
- Dawn Coder, Penn State University
- Kristin Hrynczuk, Western Michigan University
- Laurel Hogue, University of Central Missouri
- Celinda Miranda-LaBella, University College, University of Denver
- Beth Romanski, Maryland University of Integrative Health
UPCEA:
- Amy Heitzman
- Kathleen Ives