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by Maxine Higginbotham, Mentoring Committee
After years of treading water, our mentoring program is ready to ramp up again! I want to develop the program into a true showcase of what the Lone Star Community is made of: Senior Members with loads of experience! This community has a great deal to offer the newcomers to our profession, including members with experience from all 50 Facets of Technical Communication. We have several ideas to begin growing this program:
User-friendly Forms
I borrowed the forms from the Orlando community, which has a great mentoring program. We updated the forms, including the professional categories and created a PDF form. These forms will soon be on the Web site, available for downloading. You'll be able to fill them out on your computer and e-mail them to me.
Class Presentations
We have already opened several avenues for increased communication with local schools. Mel Haughton has several projects that classes from the University of North Texas will be working on for class credit. She will be including the mentoring program, LSC, and STC in general in her visit to those classes. We will also be visiting other classes at UNT to speak to them about the benefits of STC, in particular the mentoring program and scholarships available. I know that many of our members teach classes at schools around the Metroplex, or know someone who does, and I would love to have someone come and present to your classes. If you are interested in a presentation, please e-mail mentoring@stc-dfw.org.
Mentor/Protégé Package
We are in the midst of creating a package for each of our mentors and protégés. These packages will include items to use as a launching pad for discussions, such as resume and interview tips, as well as program guidelines.
Communication Plan
Any great program includes communication as a large component. The mentoring program will be no different. Mentors and protégés will, obviously, be communicating a great deal. However, the program coordinator also needs to communicate with both groups. It is the only way to ensure the providing of good service. To help ensure the program is moving along, the mentor and protégés will fill out communication logs and pass them along to the program coordinator. The program coordinator will also periodically check in with participants to ensure they are making good progress.
I know that the Lone Star Community is full of wonderful members with loads of experience. I can't wait to work with everyone to increase our standing in the community at large. Please feel free to e-mail me, mentoring@stc-dfw.org to join in the new program!