Mentoring Relationship
Case Western Reserve University faculty and staff personnel will be invited to serve as volunteer mentors. These professional role models are also committed, thoughtful, and trusted friends. They will serve as academic and career advisors, who will help the mentees to make significant contributions to their families, their community, and to the global society. Faculty and staff may assume multiple duties, including tutoring, mentoring, networking, and refining Scholars' social and personal presentation. The mentees, through working with the mentor, will have chances to enhance their academic and professional skills.
Requirements
Faculty and staff mentors will be expected to devote one afternoon per week, typically on Tuesday afternoons from 2:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. (during virtual programming the times are 3:10-4:40), with their mentees who will be on the university campus. All volunteer mentors must complete a background check (at no personal cost) each year by scheduling a time to be fingerprinted with the CWRU police and undergo one mentoring training session with a staff member. There is at least one scheduled opportunity to do this per semester. The program session runs from early October to the first week of May every school year, with breaks for Fall, Thanksgiving, Winter, and Spring Breaks.
Partnership with Community
Long term CWRU faculty and staff mentors will be connected to the greater community by partnering with a Scholar.
Through this process, mentors will:
- Address the towering dropout rates among high school students
- Expose Scholars to faculty and staff who are experts in their fields and areas of study
- Connect Scholars to faculty who can discuss with them the power of education as a central part of their future
- Help to demystify the link between education, employment and well-being
Mentors provide:
Support for Education
- Mentors help with homework and can improve their Scholar's academic skills
- Scholars who meet regularly with their mentors are less likely to skip a day of school or class
Support with day-to-day living
- Mentors are dedicated to improving a Scholar's self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-image
- Mentors help Scholars to relate well to others and help them strengthen their communication skills
Support for future work opportunities
- Mentors help Scholars to set career goals and assist them with taking steps necessary to realize them
- Mentors introduce Scholars to professional resources and organizations, and to the importance of networking
- Mentors can help their Scholars learn how to seek and keep jobs, while reinforcing the importance of knowledge and skill sets through education