Mentoring Process

To begin the student-mentor relationship, both parties should work together to establish guidelines and goals. The pair should establish parameters for the relationship, such as preferred appointment time, frequency of appointments and most convenient methods of communication (email, video chat, phonecall, face to face, etc).

The pair should also establish goals to work together toward achieving. If either the mentor or the student finds the match to be less than ideal, it is his or her responsibility to formally end the relationship by notifying the other party that they do not wish to continue with the mentoring relationship. Additionally, they should notify the mentoring committee that the relationship has ended. If the student desires a different mentor, the mentoring board can assist in finding a new mentor.

The mentoring phase of the Industrial Engineering Mentoring Program is continuous and lasts as long as the mentor and the student wish to maintain the relationship; however, at the end of each year while the student still attends the University, the student and the mentor are asked to submit a satisfaction survey to the Industrial Engineering Mentoring Board.

The success of the mentoring phase is highly dependent on the relationship between the student and the mentor. Face-to-face mentoring meetings and joint participation of the student and the mentor in appropriate social or professional events strengthen this relationship. Additionally, it is critical to the success of the mentoring process that the student asks questions and shares professional interests and goals with his or her mentor.