Starting an e-mentoring program on a college campus

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Abstract

E-mentoring is a unique way to mentor school-aged children, allowing mentors to communicate with mentees via e-mail or web-based programming (a discussion list) that is secure and provides an archive of all exchanges. This permits quality volunteers to mentor without constraints such as time or geographical distance. Juliann Schaffer, an AmeriCorps*VISTA with the Michigan Campus Compact at Alma College, Michigan, (2004-05) submitted this effective practice.

Issue

Sometimes geography or scheduling conflicts disallow those who would like to take part in a mentoring program.

Action

When beginning an e-mentoring program on a college campus consider the following actions:

Define the youth population that will be served.

To identify the mentee population, look for places where youth are plenty, such as schools or faith-based organizations. There likely exists a population in need of extra support, such as students involved in an after school program or those who are referred by the school staff. All participants must have access to e-mail. An alliance must be formed with community partners to confirm they are willing to refer youth and provide program support throughout the mentoring process.

Identify those to be recruited as mentors.

Since mentoring programs are not a new concept, experience shows that it is best to start with a small program and build gradually over time. On a college or university campus, consider starting a pilot program with a select group of college faculty, staff, and administrators. It will be easier to monitor progress by starting slowly. In subsequent years, the project can be opened up to service-learning classes, other campus groups, or sports teams — eventually including the wider student population.

Policies and Procedures

Once you have established that there is a need in the community and have located mentors committed to helping run a quality program, it is time to begin program planning.

Create parameters for the program:

Develop recruitment procedures for mentors and mentees.
Define what mentoring will consist of (solely for academic, career, social, personal goals, or a combination of these).
Determine desired program outcomes for both mentors and mentees.
Define how often mentors should be in contact and how long the matches will exist (one academic school year, 2 years, etc.).
Decide how to evaluate program success.

After designing program parameters, develop a policy and procedure manual outlining the mentoring program. Suggested topics include:

Screening mentors through a background investigation
Training and expectation policy
Record keeping policy
Confidentiality
Mandatory reporting of child abuse and neglect
Unacceptable behavior policy
Evaluation policy

Context

The goal of e-mentoring is essentially the same as traditional face-to-face mentoring:“establishing a trusting, nurturing, positive relationship between the mentor and a young person.” (MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership)

The Alma College e2e mentoring program is part of the Mentor PLUS initiative that incorporates the traditional form of mentoring — between a caring adult and a youth in need of support to achieve academic, career, social, or personal goals — with the added dimension of technology. This is made possible utilizing e-mail technology that has been approved by the National Mentoring Partnership with support from Michigan Campus Compact and Dr. Saundra Tracy, President of Alma College. The program was established for faculty and staff in 2006.

Mentor PLUS is a collaboration between Alma College and the Alma Public Schools Explore Program in coordination with Michigan Campus Compact and funding by a Corporation for National and Community Service Learn and Serve grant.

AmeriCorps*VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) provides full-time members to nonprofit, faith-based and other community organizations, and public agencies to create and expand programs that bring low-income individuals and communities out of poverty.

AmeriCorps*VISTA members leverage human, financial, and material resources to increase the capacity of thousands of low-income areas across the country to address challenges and improve the lives of the people in those communities.

The first VISTA position was filled at Alma College in 2004.

Posted On

February 11, 2009

For More Information

Anne Ritz

Alma College Service-Learning Coordinator

Email: ritz@alma.edu

Susan Smoker

Explore Program Coordinator

Email: ssmoker@almaschools.net

Resources

The National Mentoring Partnership promotes the use of The E-Mentoring ToolKit.

The Hamilton Fish Institute
http://www.hamfish.org/

Publications: School Safety and Mentoring Guides

The Hamilton Fish Institute on School and Community Violence at the George Washington University and the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL) present several guides which provide resources, tools, and support for creating safe school settings and involving the community in championing students of all ages.

The publications are based on previous work done by the Hamilton Fish Institute and the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. These resources have all been updated with the latest research by leading experts in the fields of school safety and youth mentoring. They provide practitioners with state-of-the-art strategies and concepts for improving school safety and climate for providing valuable adult mentors for students who could use some extra support and encouragement.

The ABCs of School-Based Mentoring
http://gwired.gwu.edu/hamfish/merlin-cgi/p/downloadFile/d/20696/n/off/other/1/name/abcspdf/

Generic Mentoring Program Policy and Procedure Manual
http://gwired.gwu.edu/hamfish/merlin-cgi/p/downloadFile/d/20701/n/off/other/1/name/policypdf/

Generic Mentoring Program Policy and Procedures - Customizable Template
http://gwired.gwu.edu/hamfish/merlin-cgi/p/downloadFile/d/20702/n/off/other/1/name/policy_TEMPLATEdoc/

Foundations of Successful Youth Mentoring
http://gwired.gwu.edu/hamfish/merlin-cgi/p/downloadFile/d/20699/n/off/other/1/name/foundationspdf/

Building Relationships: A Guide for New Mentors
http://gwired.gwu.edu/hamfish/merlin-cgi/p/downloadFile/d/20698/n/off/other/1/name/building_relationshipspdf/

Training New Mentors
http://gwired.gwu.edu/hamfish/merlin-cgi/p/downloadFile/d/20697/n/off/other/1/name/trainingpdf/

Sustainability Planning and Resource Development for Youth Mentoring Programs
http://gwired.gwu.edu/hamfish/merlin-cgi/p/downloadFile/d/20703/n/off/other/1/name/sustainabilitypdf/