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For 2008-2009, the Provost is sponsoring a pilot Mentoring Program for Academic Affairs staff. There will be 10 pairs selected to be part of this program. It has been designed to enhance the professional growth of both mentors and mentees. Mentees will establish clear goals that both the the mentee and the mentor believe are reachable. The mentor's role then will be to inspire and affirm the mentee. Mentors ask powerful questions and listen well, encourage people to move out of their safety zone and take risks. They also offer honest feedback and concern over negative attitudes, habits and behaviors, and provide accountability for the mentee to help them achieve the next step toward accomplishing their long-range goal.

Academic Affairs Mentoring Program will begin in January and end in August. Optimally Mentor and mentee pairs would meet once every week for the first month, bi-monthly in February, March and April, at least once a month in May and June, twice in July and a final celebration/debriefing event would occur in August.

The proposed mentoring program will begin with either an all-day or half-day group training event. This training will cover the specifics of the program such as:

• Setting expectations for the mentees (this program does not guarantee another position or a promotion at the end)
• Helping mentees flesh out and focus their goals
• Assisting pairs in understanding the roles and responsibilities of each: The mentor should be able to give constructive criticism, not negative feedback. The mentor will need to establish boundaries (ie., a mentee should not expect to be able to call the mentor at any time). The mentor should be able to respect and support a mentee
• The duration of the commitment is 8 months, although the relationship may be continued either formally or informally afterwards.

Expected Outcomes

The mentor asks the mentee about their sense of purpose, and their goals for the next few years. They then help the mentee to find the courage to take the next steps they've identified. The mentor doesn't lead there -- the mentor observes, facilitates, listens, asks questions, encourages, probes, confronts, celebrates but always stays behind the mentee. As a result, the mentee develops personal strength and independent-thinking and works toward achieving their goals in a way that is true to their own giftedness, talents, abilities and circumstances.

Benefits of a Mentoring Program

"A person who has been well-coached has a memorable connection to someone who has profoundly influenced his or her life--withknowledge, values, wisdom, mastery, compassion and motivation." (F. Hudson, The Handbook of Coaching)

Developing a Mentoring Program will help Academic Affairs to:

• Develop and nurture future leaders, retaining valued employees
• Develop a strategy for succession planning from within our organization
• Develop and promote relationships across departments

An active Mentoring Program can form the basis for developing mentoring programs for Chairs, Deans and AVPs in our division and across the university. It will provide more knowledgeable and better prepared candidates for open positions and give us a way to identify and develop all employees throughout the division. It will also begin to provide ‘career path’ information for participants.