Students are asked to select their first 3 choices, in a ranked order. The Center for Entrepreneurship’s will endeavor to match students with a preferred mentor, but this may not always be possible for reasons ranging from multiple requests for the same mentor to mentor schedule availability (not all mentors will be available every semester).
Notification of Pairing
Students and mentors will be notified of pairings as soon as they are complete. Once you have been notified of your mentor, it is your responsibility to reach out to your Mentor and introduce yourself, initiate the mentorship and schedule the ‘virtual coffee’ times.
Expectations
Be mindful of your mentor’s time:
Focus & Goals
Good mentors are usually very busy people so use your time wisely-starting with make sure to be on time for all sessions! Having focused blocks of time with a clear agenda and real issues to discuss is important.
Session Outlines:
The Center for Entrepreneurship Mentorship Connection sessions are set up so that each has a theme, several objectives, and a number of suggested questions for you to use should the conversation get stalled.
Build trust:
Set your appointments up in advance.
Do not cancel unless absolutely necessary (and never just ‘skip’).
Unless absolutely unavoidable, you should make sure to be able to meet when you set the appointment. Make sure your technology is in good working order, tech failures are not a cause for cancellation — if your video connection is not working you should quickly move to our backup plan of a phone call.
Follow up:
If your mentor provides you with additional contacts, or makes other suggestions in the course of your work together please follow up — and let them know you have, and it is appreciated.
Clarity, timeliness, and respect:
Being clear about appointments and agendas, arriving on time and ready to work, and demonstrating that you value ideas and suggestions provided you by others are successful habits to develop. They will inspire others to trust you, to see you as serious about your work, and want to help you move forward on your journey.
Cancellations:
If you need to cancel a meeting time with your mentor, make sure you contact them via phone or email as soon as you are aware of the need to cancel. Take the initiative to propose an alternate time with them as soon as possible. Failure to notify a mentor of missing an appointment and “standing them up” can result in being asked to leave the program.
Boundaries
Build success for both of you:
Showing your willingness to learn, practice and grow is truly rewarding for your mentor. This will strengthen your relationship and serve to solidify the guidance your mentor is providing.
Dealing with Issues:
The mentorship is a professional relationship between a student and mentor. Remember to keep topics appropriate to the meeting or objectives at hand. If you are having issues with your mentor that you would like help with, or feel that it is not working out, you can call or email Rocky Campbell at 503.768.7380 / rocky@lclark.edu to discuss.
As part of your initial introduction to your mentor the two of you will choose your preferred method of video chat.
However, as mentioned above, once a method has been selected you are responsible for ensuring your chosen technology is up and running and you are all set before the appointment is due to begin (think of this as arriving to the coffee shop in enough time to park your car, find a seat and collect your thoughts).
Technology Failures:
Remember, in the event that your chosen tech platform does not work on any given day you should be ready to reach your mentor by telephone.
The Bates Center for Entrepreneurship and Leadership is located in room 344 of J.R. Howard Hall on the Undergraduate Campus. MSC: 71
