Are there any requirements for being a mentor?
All
Cornell alumni are eligible to participate in the program, particularly
those who were undergrads at Cornell. African American, Asian American,
Latino, and Native American alumni are strongly encouraged to
participate. We recommend that alumni mentors be Cornellians who
graduated at least two years ago, though all Cornellians who are
enthusiastic about the program are welcome to join. As an alumni
mentor, you will be asked to serve for the entire four-year
undergraduate career of the student with whom you are matched.
There
are many ways to help your student. While we’ve tried to provide a
framework for some areas, you are not expected to help with all the
areas. This is simply a guide.
Social and Emotional Support:
Provide friendship and guidance and offer yourself as a person your
student can talk to; introduce your student to other positive role
models who have gone through similar experiences.
Academic Support:
Teach students how to approach faculty and staff about course work;
discuss graduate school/professional school options and your
experiences of attending graduate and/or professional schools; and
guide and support your student during the process of selecting and
enrolling in courses that meet requirements for the student’s major.
Personal Development: Encourage your student as he/she sets goals and achieves them.
Career Development:
Advise your student on career options by discussing particular fields
of interest, sharing your experiences of working-life, and by taking
your student to work and having him/her “shadow” you for a day.
Students
will be matched with alumni from the same geographic area. In addition
to locale, other factors—such as gender, course of study, ethnicity,
and career field will be considered to make a good match. Participating
students and alumni will be asked to note the importance to them of
race, gender, and career field in their mentor assignment. The program
staff will try to match those preferences.
Unless
you are happy to do so, we would not expect you to commit to more than
1-2 hours per month. This should be enough time to communicate with
your student via email or even the occasional phone call.
The initial contact should be an informal one. This
is a time to get to know each other by sharing about significant events
or people in each other’s life, likes and dislikes, and general
interests. First conversation topics should provide a glimpse into each other’s lives. You should also discuss the best method(s) of communication with each other and how often you will communicate. At the end of the meeting, arrangements should be made for a second meeting. The second meeting is a good time to discuss in more detail what each person wants to gain from the relationship.
Here are two sample emails that you can follow for introducing yourself:
Email #1
Dear Student’s name,
Congratulations on entering Cornell this fall! I
am delighted that the Cornell Alumni-Student Mentoring Program has
asked me to be your mentor, and I look forward to meeting you. I hear that you plan on majoring in subject(s) but that you also have a strong interest in other areas of interest which may be listed under student’s comments. I would love to hear more about this when we meet. I live/work in location so it should be convenient for both of us to meet together. Suggest a couple of days and times for meeting. Let me know which day is good for you and we can plan from there.
Below is some more information about me and what I’ve done since graduating from Cornell. I believe my education has brought me far in life and I am certain that it will for you too.
Regards,
Your name
Contact information
Include
basic biographical/educational/professional information that you think
will give the student a better idea of who you are.
Email #2
Dear Student’s name,
Congratulations on your acceptance to
Please contact me at your convenience so I can formally introduce myself and answer any immediate questions you might have. Again, congratulations. I’m looking forward to meeting you.
Sincerely,
Your name
Contact information
Since
we aim to match mentors and students based on students' preferences
first, you will not be matched with a student until a student asks for
a mentor who fits your description. Therefore, it is possible that we
may not be able to complete an alumni/student match for you right away.
Thus, if you do not hear from us, it is not because we no longer
welcome your participation in the program but because we have not found
an appropriate student for you. In the meantime, if you would like to
be more closely involved in our program and have plans to be in
If you are experiencing any issues related to your relationship with your student, please send an email to casmp@cornell.edu or call the office at 255-0842.
