DE Oracle @ UMUC

Professional Mentoring Program: A Novel Approach for Industry-Academe Synergy

Rana Khan

Director, Biotechnology Programs

Graduate School of Management and Technology

Published: March-April 2010

Category: » University-showcase » Classes-programs

In fall 2009, one year after receiving a Department of Education grant, the Professional Science Master’s (PSM) biotechnology program in UMUC’s Graduate School of Management and Technology launched the pilot of a Web-based mentoring program.

The proposal for this program was developed in response to a request for proposal (RFP) put out by the U.S. Department of Education's FIPSE program. The overall goal of the proposed project was to devise an approach that would enhance interaction and increase synergy between the academic institution and the private sector. The strategy used to achieve this goal was to develop an online mentoring program that would bring master’s students and biotechnology professionals together in a long-term, sustained relationship.

The mentoring program model consists of four main participants: mentors, students/mentees, mentor assistants, and a mentor assistants lead.

Mentors are professionals who are currently working in the industry, academia, and government or are self-employed. The desirable characteristics for a mentor include good awareness of the biotechnology industry sector, a desire to help incoming professionals, and a willingness to play an active role in molding current graduates to fit the workforce needs of tomorrow by volunteering time to speak with these students on a regular basis.

Students in their second or third semester of the master’s degree program are eligible to apply for this program. Students who are accepted are assigned a mentor, based on similar areas of interest, until they graduate. The interaction between the mentor and the mentee is focused around developing and achieving realistic professional goals. Getting advice and direction from a professional can be very useful for our adult student population, many of whom are either changing careers or retooling themselves for better positions within the industry.

Mentor Assistants (MAs) are alumni of the biotechnology program at UMUC. They are selected to participate in the mentoring program based on their commitment to help new students navigate the degree program and assist them with interacting effectively with their assigned mentor.

The Mentor Assistants Lead (MAL) is also an alumnus of the biotechnology program, but in addition to the duties performed by the MAs, the MAL manages the logistics of the application process, pairs up the mentors and mentees, and creates accounts and private interaction areas for them in the online platform.

The Web site for the interaction between the various participants was developed from an open source Learning Management System (LMS) called Claroline. The mentoring site has a public and a private area. The public area describes the program in detail, including the roles and benefits to each of the participants and the affiliations of the mentors. The private area is used for interaction and as a repository of documents. It also stores the reports that each mentee writes after every interaction with his/her mentor. The Claroline platform also has online video conferencing capabilities with screen sharing and document upload in the private area. The biotechnology mentoring site is currently undergoing enhancements to automate the application process and data collection from the applications as well as end-of-semester evaluations.

The mentoring program has an auto-sustainable feature. Once mentees graduate, they can become MAs, and those who have been in an MA position can move on to become mentors—creating a cycle that regularly generates participants.

The initial launch of the pilot consisted of 18 pairs of mentors and mentees who were assisted by three MAs, including one MAL. The mentees were selected based on their interest and enthusiasm for the program and good written communication skills. The mentors were assigned to selected students based on common interest areas. Regular meetings between the pairs were encouraged, and the momentum of the interaction was maintained by effective communication from the MAs. The end-of-semester evaluations by both the mentors and the mentees indicated that they enjoyed the interactions and found them to be useful for their professional development. The number of interactions in one semester varied from 2 to 12 and occurred through e-mail, phone, or chat. Interestingly, both mentors and mentees indicated that they learned something new because of the interaction. A few pairs expressed the need for more specific guidelines on interaction and a closer synergy between the mentor/mentee pairings.

The second round of the pilot is currently underway with 15 new pairs of mentors/mentees assisted by five MAs. The mentee selection process has been revised by including a phone interview and providing the mentors with more information on the mentee and his/her background.

The strongest feature of this program is that it is discipline independent. We hope to disseminate this innovative idea and have other UMUC PSM programs—as well as any other academic program that might be interested—to adopt and adapt this mentoring program for their students in the next few years.

We invite you to learn more about the biotechnology mentoring program by visiting the mentoring site.