By: Shannon Doherty, Director, Mentorship
There are currently fourteen mentee-mentor matches in the program. Of those, four of the pairs will reach their one year commitment by the end February 2015. Since the APRA Canada conference in October, there has been a spike in interest in the program. In October 2015, four people came forward looking for a mentor, and referenced the conference as a source of their interest in the program.
During the second week of January, I have received four requests from mentees to be partnered, and I am actively looking to find mentors that match their interests. There is a need for mentors that work at organization that are not in field of education.
The program is currently comprised of prospect researchers from across Canada including: Vancouver, Calgary, London, Waterloo, Toronto, and Ottawa. Participants in the program come from a diverse mix of organizations representing the fields of postsecondary education, environment, hospitals and other health related groups, arts & culture, and social services.
During the last AGM, I communicated that I was working on a questionnaire that Erin Bartok was previously preparing to distribute to all past and present participants of the program so that feedback can be received from participants. This will help to efficiently evaluate the current program, and ensure that the program is meeting the needs and expectations of the participants. The survey has been revised numerous times, and the date of disbursement has been pushed back multiple times. The survey will be sent out during the week of Feb 2-6 2015. The delay has been partly caused by trying to obtain and verify email addresses and position titles for past participants of the program.
Going forward, regular calls for interested mentors and mentees will be sent out via the APRA Canada LinkedIn group and in upcoming issues of The Scoop.