Mentoring: Professional Development in Classics
Would you like to be paired with a mentor? Would you like to be a mentor to another scholar?— Would you benefit from the give-and-take of advice and support as you make your way through the labyrinth of grad school, job market, publishing, tenure, and promotion?
For professionals at any stage of their careers! The Mentoring initiative is ALIVE and WELL!
If you either want to be a Mentor or are seeking a Mentor, this project was created for you. About 40 members have already volunteered to be mentors, and about 20 mentoring pairs have been set up.
The procedure is this: when someone contacts us asking to be paired with a mentor, we ask for her or his research specialization and any special issues (s)he would like to discuss with a mentor (such as going on the job market or combining career and family). We then look through the list of volunteers, trying to find a good “match.” If there is no one in the same field who is still unmatched, we may approach someone we know to see if (s)he is interested in mentoring. We approach the prospective mentor first and make sure (s)he is available, so the prospective “mentee” does not need to worry about the possibility of being rebuffed. We send both parties an introductory message and some general guidelines for the mentoring relationship, proposed by former grad student members of the Steering Committee. Then we will try to be in touch with everyone once in a while, to see how things are going and to re-match people if they so desire.
At any time, we would welcome feedback on how the initiative is working and on ways to improve it. Some people in mid-career might like to have a mentor and to be a mentor at the same time—that’s fine. If you would like to be a mentor, please don’t hesitate to volunteer (and don’t be discouraged if you have volunteered but haven’t yet been matched). Although the number of volunteers thus far exceeds the number of prospective “mentees,” we are sometimes at a loss to match people in specific fields. And if more people apply after seeing this announcement, we’ll need more mentors too!
Please contact either of the following:
|
Lauren Caldwell |
Lillian Doherty |
We look forward to hearing from many of you!
Sincerely, Lauren Caldwell and Lillian Doherty
