Mentoring Process

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) and the Penn State Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Society, in cooperation with the Penn State American Society of Civil Engineers student chapter and the Penn State Harrisburg Civil Engineering Advisory Board, collectively sponsor the Civil and Environmental Engineering Mentoring Program.

The mentoring program is administered by a subcommittee of the Civil and Environmental Alumni Society (Mentoring Board). The Mentoring Board is responsible for matching students and alumni mentors by background and professional interests.

The program provides career guidance to current Penn State CEE undergraduates by Penn State graduates currently engaged in the civil engineering profession and facilitates a bridge between academia and industry for current students.

Mentors and protégés interact on a one-to-one basis using mutually agreed methods of communication. This effort also includes occasional group meetings and activities for all program participants several times a year.

Registration

Students

A student begins the process of obtaining a mentor by completing the student sign-up form.

Along with basic contact information, the student should send background information such as personal and professional interests, preferred geographic locations, and short- and long-term career goals. Information provided by the student is used to identify a mentor with a background and interests consistent with or complementary to those of the student.

Mentors

CEE alumni members can volunteer to be mentors by completing the mentor sign-up form. For security purposes, you will need to first create a Friends of Penn State account if you do not already have one. The system will guide you through this process. You do not need to fill in all of the form fields, but you must complete the fields with a star next to them.

Once the Friends of Penn State account is created, you will be able to complete the mentoring sign-up form. To assist in matching mentors and students, mentors should provide background information similar to that requested of the student.

Matching

Effective in 2022, students enrolled in the Mentoring Program can indicate their preferred mentor on a first-come first-served basis. Simply complete the mentee application and you will automatically be redirected to the Mentor Preference Selection page. Review the enclosed data on the available mentors, and make a selection.

The Mentoring Board will analyze the registration information submitted by students and alumni mentors to define optimum student-mentor matches. In most cases the Preferred Mentor Selection will not be changed. Then, the Mentoring Board notifies both the student and the mentor of the match and provides them with each other’s contact information.

It is important to note that there is a limited number of mentors. If the demand from the students exceeds the number of mentors, the Mentoring Board will work to meet the need. Please refer any question or concerns to (willyheisey@yahoo.com).

It is the student’s responsibility to arrange the initial meeting with his or her mentor. Ideally, this initial meeting will be held face-to-face; however, if this is not possible, it is acceptable for the meeting to be conducted by telephone. The student should contact the mentor within one week of receiving notification of the student-mentor match. The initial meeting should be arranged for a time no later than two weeks after receiving notification.

During the initial meeting, the student and mentor should assess their satisfaction with the match. They should discuss their backgrounds, interests, and professional goals. They should also consider what kinds of goals should be set for the duration of the mentoring relationship.

After the initial meeting, both the student and the mentor should feel as if they have some common ground both personally and professionally. If the student and/or the mentor do not feel the match is appropriate, the Mentoring Board (willyheisey@yahoo.com) should be notified. The committee will then consider the request to match the student with a new mentor.

Mentoring

The mentoring phase of the program is continuous and lasts as long as the mentor and the student wish to maintain the relationship. However, at the end of each year while the student still attends the university, the student and the mentor are asked to submit a satisfaction survey to the Mentoring Board. The committee will review the student-mentor relationship and consider re-matching if that relationship has not met expectations.

Get More Information

If you have any questions regarding the Civil and Environmental Engineering Mentoring Program, please contact Willy Heisey at willyheisey@yahoo.com.