Winter 2008

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On March 4, 2008, we held the "Reflections on Mentoring" workshop.  This interactive presentation was designed to inspire and increase the effectiveness of the mentoring experience for the mentors in our program.  The Albers Placement Center planned this event as a way to give back to the mentors and thank them for all their hard work and dedication. The evening began with a reception where the mentors were able to mingle, connect and network with one another.  About 40 mentors were in attendance for the event which was a great turnout!  From the reception, guests were able to enjoy a buffet dinner.  Mentors were given the chance to relax, eat together, and share stories about their mentoring experiences.  Then guests participated in an hour long workshop entitled "Reflections on Mentoring."

The workshop was conducted by Fr. Stephen Sundborg, S.J., the President of Seattle University.  Fr. Steve has been president of Seattle University since 1997.  He is the 21st president to lead the university since it was founded in 1891.  He grew up in Alaska, entered the Jesuits in 1961 and was ordained as a priest in Seattle in 1974.  Father Sundborg is strongly committed to promoting social justice, a core value of the Jesuit Catholic education.  He actively supports programs that encourage students, faculty, and staff to make a difference, whether in the local community or developing countries.  Father Sundborg is passionate about mentoring and has spoken many times on the topic. 

In the workshop, Fr. Sundborg discussed mentoring in relation to the Seattle University mission.  SU's mission states that "Seattle University is dedicated to educating the whole person, to professional formation, and to empowering leaders for a just and humane world."  Fr. Sundborg told stories and reflected on mentoring experiences he's had that have made him who he is today.  He also shared insights on how the mentoring that many of you are doing now, directly relates to the values of SU including CARE, ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE, DIVERSITY, FAITH, JUSTICE, and LEADERSHIP.  Fr. Sundborg shared authentic and moving thoughts that inspired the audience.  He also opened up the discussion to the attendees to share some of their thoughts and past mentoring experiences.  The workshop was engaging and there was definite disappointment when it came time for the workshop to end.  Unfortunately we were not able to record the speech and Fr. Sundborg is so talented, that he did most of the presentation "off the cuff" or otherwise I would provide you with his speech notes.  We now know better to record his speeches in the future.

Evaluations of the event came back very positive.  We hope to have Fr. Sundborg back as a presenter again in the future.  Thank you to Fr. Sundborg for such a great presentation and thanks to all the mentors who attended for your support and involvement.  The following is a blessing that Fr. Sundborg gave before our meal that might be appropriate for many people in the mentoring program:

Patient Trust
Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress that it is made by passing through
some stages of instability--and it may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you;
your ideas mature gradually--let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don't try to force them on, as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.

Only God could say what this new spirit gradually forming within you will be.
Give our Lord the benefit of believing that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete.
--Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ

Mentor Forums

In lieu of the traditional Winter Mentor Forum, we held the "Reflections on Mentoring" workshop event instead.  So we have one more Mentor Forum this year.  The Spring Mentor Forum will be a great way for mentors to reflect on and evaluate your mentoring experience over the entire year.  We hope many of you can make it!  More information to come soon.

Save the Date for the last Mentor Forum:
Tuesday, June 10, 2008; 4-6pm (Pigott 416)

Mentoring Reflections from one of our mentors-Skip Rowland

Dr. Leon F. “Skip” Rowland
Mentoring Relationship

My mentoring relationship with my student this year is interesting and mutually rewarding. Our relationship is built on mutual trust and grounded in a mentoring relationship model I designed originally for managers in Washington State Government. The model is based on The C.A.R.E. Package Learning System^sm and is focused on building meaningful interrelationships and deep learning through multi-cultural, trust-building communications. The model has six dimensions: (1) a vision-building dimension, where we assess the personal and professional goals of the learning partner (or mentee); (2) a communications dimension, where we design and develop the communications protocols for our relationship; (3) an attitudinal dimension, where we assess our levels and degrees of commitment to our teaching and learning processes; (4) a goal-setting dimension, where we set achievable goals; (5) a resources dimension, where we list and discuss necessary human and financial resources required for success as well as assigned timetables for deliverables; and (6) an evaluation dimension, where we evaluate progress towards goals and continually assess the viability of our relationship.

The mentoring model I use also includes use of a Mentoring Agreement. This agreement represents a “contract” or formal document that is created early in the mentoring relationship that set out the guidelines upon which the mentoring relationship will be based. It includes agreed upon logistics, such as meeting times, dates, locations, and durations of mentoring meetings; our interrelationship protocols and ways of engaging, sustaining, and ultimately terminating the relationship; ways of appreciating our diversity; agreed upon goals and objectives, and ways of evaluating our relationship.

This is my first opportunity to mentor a student at Seattle University. I have designed and developed mentoring programs for multiple clients in the public and private sectors and I have participated in the Seattle Rotary #4 Business Mentor Program. I enjoy mentoring and highly recommend it as a teaching and learning process.

If you would like to learn more about Skip's methods, please contact him at skipr@seattlechamber.com

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 Save the Date!

 This program made possible by the generous support of