Mentorship FAQs

The transition to campus life often means uprooting yourself and joining a new community, which is a challenge for anyone starting college. A peer mentor provides you with insider info on how to connect with other students, build relationships with your professors, succeed at college-level academics and other hints, like where to find Old Town’s best ice cream, how to shop for your first apartment or which local businesses offer the best student discounts. 

The College of Business Career Management Center uses Chronus, a platform that facilitates connections between mentors and mentees. Students complete an initial interest form indicating their career goals, plans after graduation and other needs. 

Your mentor is there to share their personal experience and serve as a sounding board as you explore your ideas. Mentees often focus on topics as wide-ranging as how to acquire specific skills, affirming personal values in the workplace, leadership development, navigating organizations or seeking feedback. Mentors bring deep experience to the relationship and are eager to help you prepare for a successful career.

Not at all. While it helps to have a general understanding of your broadest career goals, your mentor can answer questions about opportunities and expose you to career directions you might not have considered. 

Juggling college, personal and professional demands is never easy, so the Flash Mentoring Program provides the chance to meet with a professional mentor for a single consultation. Flash mentoring is a great opportunity to explore ideas or receive immediate feedback about a question.

Although mentors commit to forging a relationship with their mentees for the duration of a semester, connections often develop a rapport, and both parties may find it beneficial to continue their relationship outside of the scope of the mentoring program. If you’re interested in maintaining regular contact with your mentor, speak with them about extending the mentor-mentee connection.

All College of Business undergraduate and graduate students are eligible to participate in any mentorship program free of charge.

Relationships with your mentee don’t bloom overnight, and first-year students’ needs evolve as they settle into their first semester. In order to provide the level of support needed for the Peer-to-Peer Mentoring Program to have a lasting impact, mentors should prepare to meet with their mentee for at least three hours each week. Many of our mentoring connections find they meet more frequently than that as both parties find meaning in the relationship.

Peer-to-peer mentors must be in their junior or senior year, active in groups and events in the campus community and have maintained a GPA of 3.0 or better. They should also be able to commit to three hours each week to foster a strong relationship.

Interested in becoming a peer mentor? Apply to become a mentor at the Peer-to-Peer Mentoring web page. 

You’ll commit to meet at least four times over the course of a year – twice per semester – as a mentor and respond in a timely fashion to any questions or emails your mentee may raise. Meetings typically last 60-90 minutes and can be held virtually so they fit easily within your professional responsibilities and schedule.

Requirements vary between undergraduate and graduate programs:

• Professional Mentoring Program (serving juniors and seniors in the College of Business): Five years of professional experience and the ability to provide honest feedback. Learn more about becoming a professional mentor. 
• Graduate Mentoring Program (serving College of Business MBA, Master of Finance and Master of Accountancy students): Seven years of professional experience and at least two years serving in a leadership role such as President, VP or CEO. Learn more about becoming a graduate mentor. 

The Flash Mentoring Program offers professionals the opportunity to engage in one-time mentorship opportunities. Learn more about the Flash Mentoring Program.