Find Time To Mentor: Applications are now open for the NORDP Mentoring Program!

The Mentoring Program is an opportunity to enhance your skills by interacting with other research development professionals. Every year, there is a high need for mentors – and YOU have wisdom to share! Consider becoming a mentor (and, you can be a mentee as well). The Mentoring Committee has developed an OnBoarding Packet, Closure Tools, archived webinars, and a set of FAQs. A facilitator team available to support you, and will be in touch several times throughout the year. Mentors are never alone…. We support each other, as we support the profession.

Mentoring is an investment in yourself, and in the future of NORDP. AND mentoring takes time. Where and how do you add the time into an already busy schedule?

  1. Make the commitment: Why are you mentoring? Commit to your reason, rather than your mentee.
  2. Recognize that for every hour with your mentee, you might have 30 minutes of pre- or post–meeting work. Mentoring is active. Come prepared for meetings, follow up with anything you’ve committed to do.
  3. Set a specific time: Find a day and time that works for you and your mentee. Get it on the calendar, and be respectful of the time. Thirty to 45-minutes might be ideal.
  4. Define your goals: Mentors and mentees can have separate goals and there could be a goal for the mentoring relationship. Use SMART goals: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time bound.
  5. Be honest: If your commitment in the mentoring relationship is beginning to wane, there is a chance that you will push it farther down on your list of priorities. If this happens, reach out to a facilitator. They can help you figure out what changes can be made to ensure that the mentoring relationship remains a priority.
  6. Be realistic: Figure out what works. Meeting every other week might feel like too often; meeting once a month might be too long between meetings. Be fluid and flexible until you find a meeting schedule that is just right.

All NORDP members can apply here to be mentors, mentees, or join a Peer Mentoring Group. (or all three!) The deadline for applications is Wednesday, March 25, 2020. Individual Mentor/Mentee matches and Peer Mentor Groups will be notified prior to the 2020 NORDP Annual Conference in San Antonio, Texas (May 17-20).

Need more information? Check out the NORDP Mentoring Committee webpages, or email: MentorProgram@nordp.org.

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