New Mentoring Program at UR

New Mentoring Program at UR

March 12, 2014
Applications now being accepted for second cohort of mentoring program

Are you interested in developing your career, building new relationships, and sharpening your skills? University of Richmond’s first Mentor/Mentee program, launched in the fall of 2013, does just that.  The program is a result of a recommendation from and follow-up by a University Staff Advisory Council subgroup which was composed of Martha Pittaway, Denard Hall and Denise Johnston. Registration is open and mentor applications are due on Wednesday, March 19th and mentee applications are due Friday, March 21st.

The 2013 inaugural program included 18 administrative staff members who were strategically matched to form nine mentor/mentee pairs. Throughout the semester, the group met to get to know one another, as well as hear from speakers from across the University. In addition, each pair was encouraged to get together on their own time – to share best practices, give advice, and talk about, well, anything.

Mickie Campos, Administrative Coordinator for the Office of Alumni and Career Services, participated in the program to grow better in touch with newer administrative staff on campus and meet people she could have never met otherwise. Mickie, who has worked at the University for 15 years, notes that the Mentoring Program helped her to be more aware of the feelings of new employees.

Robin Mundle, Administrative Coordinator for Rhetoric and Communication Studies, and Michelle Bedsaul, Administrative Coordinator for the Jepson School of Leadership Studies, were both drawn to the program for a different reason – networking. Both, still fairly new staff, saw the Mentoring Program as an opportunity to get to know other folks at the University and hear about best practices used in other departments. Similarly, Pam Khoury, Assistant to the Dean in the Jepson School of Leadership Studies, also saw the program as a chance to develop her career. Pam’s favorite part was learning from different speakers and hearing about their successes and failures at the University.

If you choose to participate in the program this year, alums have a few words of advice: learn from the exercises, make time to meet with your partner once a month, go in with an open mind, and don’t be afraid to ask questions.

For more information on the program, please contact Aubrey Pettaway.