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Posts Tagged: mentors
Become a mentor for UC ANR colleagues
With more than 100 new employees joining UC ANR in the past year, there is an extremely high demand for mentors in the fifth annual ANR Mentorship Program.
ANR Learning & Development is seeking volunteers – both staff and academics – for the nine-month program, which begins in late February and runs through November. Volunteers will help foster personal and professional growth by mentoring a new staff or academic employee.
While mentors listen to and share knowledge and insights with their mentees, they also report that they learn a lot about themselves during the process, said Jodi Azulai, Learning & Development coordinator. Learn more about what it means to be a mentor.
Mentors are asked to commit to an online orientation, monthly phone/video call check-ins with mentees, and three in-person group sessions.
Apply at https://surveys.ucanr.edu/survey.cfm?surveynumber=25208.
Note that employees who have previously served as a mentor, and who would like to volunteer again, do not need to fill out the survey. Email Azulai at jlazulai@ucanr.edu to express your interest for the coming year.
If selected as a mentor in the 2023 program, you will be contacted by Learning & Development on next steps. Please reach out to Azulai at jlazulai@ucanr.edu if you have questions.
ANR staff mentorship program fosters personal, professional growth
UC ANR is unique in the UC system. Its advisors and staff work in 57 out of 58 counties in the state, supporting Californians with university-based research in the areas of healthy families and communities; sustainable food systems; sustainable natural ecosystems; water, including quality, quantity and security; and pests — endemic and invasive pests and diseases. Administrative staff support business operations, development services, resource planning and management and more.
Although there was a longstanding desire to create a staff mentorship program, ANR leadership realized that their organizational complexity would require a unique and focuses approach. They deemed creating a mentorship program a priority people goal in the 2016-2020 strategic plan, and after several years in the making, the first Mentor Orientation took place in December 2018.
“To develop the ANR Staff Mentorship Program, we adapted from UCOP, UC Davis and external organization mentorship program models,” explained Learning and Development Coordinator Jodi Azulai. These efforts led to a nine-month program, which consisted of three in-person workshops and monthly meetings between mentors and mentees — most of which took place via phone- or video-conferencing due to the geographic spread of their work locations.
July 23, 2019, marked the end of the successful pilot year. Since participating in the program, two participants have moved to advanced job classifications. A majority of mentors reported that their mentorship experience helped them to learn about themselves and would benefit their careers.
“The mentorship program granted me the privilege and honor of having an exceptional mentor — a leader, role model and friend who helped me gain the confidence and guidance I needed to grow within UC ANR and beyond,” shared one participant.
“We each have so much to offer one another, whether we serve as a mentor or mentee. The hard part is finding the time to listen,” said another mentee. “When someone makes time to feel, understand and relate to another person, we all grow. It has a ripple effect.”
Among the programs encouraging outcomes are the following:
- 100% of program participants found that the program benefits mentees
- 94% of participants found that one-on-one meetings were meaningful and that participating in the program enhanced their self-awareness
- 89% observed professional growth as a result of their participation
- 88% found that participating in the program grew their interpersonal communication, leadership, technical and other skills
- 84% have identified actions to enhance their development as a result of participating
“We understood the benefits of mentoring relationships before our program began, but we now have photos, data and personal feedback from attendees that reflects the significance for continuing this program,” Azulai said.
She and her team plan to send a six-month follow-up survey to 2019 participants in January to learn how mentees have come to regard their personal and career development and outlook since participating in the program. The second Staff Mentorship Program cohort will begin in January 2020.
This story was originally published as part of a series on staff mentorship programs in UCNet.
Learning and Development opportunities
Join us on Thursday, July 19, for “Communicating Science, Creating Trust” with UC Davis News Media and Relations Specialist Katherine Kerlin:
- Acquire an understanding of communication skills that can help build trust.
- Learn communication techniques adaptable to a variety of audiences.
- Learn approaches to discussing climate change with more and less receptive audiences.
https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/963167636
(646) 558-8656 or (669) 900-6833
Webinar ID: 963 167 636
Pilot mentoring program for staff coming to ANR soon!
Did you know that one of the goals of the ANR Strategic Plan 2016-20 was to establish mentoring partnerships for ANR employees? Yes, and planning is underway. Because of some differences between academic and staff mentoring objectives, Staff Human Resources and ANR Learning & Development is working on a staff mentoring program for now.
Why mentoring? Read an article How Mentoring Propelled My Career Forward posted in LinkedIn by UC President Janet Napolitano. She writes: “...find a good mentor. Look for someone who is genuinely interested in your long-term success and who will invest the time and energy to provide advice, guidance and feedback with candor.”
Stayed tuned for more on ANR's Staff Mentoring Program!
Call for applicants: Management Skills Assessment Program (MSAP)
Next program
October 8-11, 2018 @ the UCLA Lake Arrowhead Conference Center
How does this program work?
This program assesses the management skills of high potential, early career supervisors and managers for future leadership opportunities at the University of California. Discuss the program with supervisors and managers with 1-5 years of people management experience who exhibit potential for management development.
When are Applications due?
EXTENDED TO THURSDAY, July 5, 2018
Who is eligible?
Eligibility requirements include:
- Full-time career status with a current, satisfactory (or better) performance evaluation
- Career Tracks job classification as a supervisor or manager with 1-5 years' experience
Participants will be selected based on an evaluation of the applicant's (1) career goals in management, (2) level of skills essential for performing management functions, and (3) demonstrated career path and/or strong commitment to management skill development.
Who pays?
ANR Learning & Development pays (program cost $1350 PLUS transportation and other related travel costs)!
What to expect?
- A demanding program with assessees in activities from 8 am until 8 pm.
- No time to check email or attend to work responsibilities.
- Eat with other assessees and share small condos.
Application instructions and further information about the program are at http://msap.ucr.edu/. Choose UC ANR (not UC Davis) in the application.
A UC ANR committee will review all applications and make the final selection. Completed applications must be submitted online at http://msap.ucr.edu/ by EXTENDED TO THURSDAY, July 5, 2018
As supervisor, you will also have a required portion in the submission for application consideration and commit to participate in the required post-program activities.
For more information, contact Jodi Azulai, ANR Learning and Development Coordinator, at jlazulai@ucanr.edu.
Got Facilitation?
Have you ever participated in or led a meeting that was not effective or where it was not clear why you were meeting? That is where facilitation training comes in. An effective facilitator is a meeting architect who can help plan and/or lead a meeting so that desired goals are achieved.
Are you in need of a facilitator for your next meeting? Through various courses, ANR has graduated many people with training in facilitation. There are ANR Facilitators willing to help you with your next meeting.
In fact, in May a group of 17 ANR people participated in a Collaborative Facilitation Course instructed by Kim Ingram, Susie Kocher, and Linda Manton.
In this course participants learned how to
- Help a group free itself from internal obstacles so they may more effectively accomplish goals
- Guide a group to identify ways to respond to challenges, while maintaining safety and trust among the members
- Bring in processes to help the team achieve its charge
ANR Learning & Development hopes to support another Collaborative Facilitation course in FY18-19, so keep posted!
Find a mentor or be a mentor
For more information on finding a mentor or being a mentor see these resources:
The UC Davis Mentoring Toolkit: Provides detailed information on mentor/mentee roles and responsibilities, how to choose a mentor, and a mentor assessment to find out if you might be a good mentor.
UC Merced's Career Advancement Mentorship Program: A volunteer career development program that matches experienced UC Merced staff (mentors) with staff members (mentees) seeking mentoring and professional development.
UC Berkeley's Staff Mentorship Program: A program where mentees are matched with seasoned staff mentors to formulate and start acting on a career plan.
UC Riverside's Staff Mentorship Program is in development. For more information, contact the UCR Human Resources office.
