Northwest
Archivists, Inc. Mentoring Program
The goal of the Northwest Archivists (NWA) Mentoring Program is to contribute
to the success of NWA members by facilitating individual growth, fostering a
sense of community within the profession, encouraging thoughtful and meaningful
engagement with issues, and developing competencies that strengthen the position
of individuals, organizations, and programs in our ever-changing environment.
The NWA Mentoring Program is designed to bring together mentors and protégés,
offer recommendations and guidelines that support successful matches, and provide
an assessment component for the program to gauge its value to participants and
to NWA as a whole.
In order to make the best possible match, mentors and protégés
are asked to complete an application form.
Mentor Application Form
Protégé Application Form
Questions and/or
comments about the NWAs Mentoring Program?
Please contact:
Donna McCrea, NWA Mentoring Program Coordinator
Archivist & Manuscripts Librarian
The University of Montana-Missoula
(406) 243-4403 / donna.mccrea at umontana.edu
Definition
of Mentoring
Mentoring can be defined as a developmental relationship
in which a more experienced person provides support and guidance to a less experienced
person. For example, an archivist with years of professional experience could
serve as a mentor to someone in their first archival job, or a person with specific
skills (website development, film preservation, staff supervision) could mentor
someone taking on new responsibilities or seeking to improve their abilities.
Mentoring goes beyond the traditional teacher-student relationship - effective
mentors serve as advisers, coaches, teachers, sounding boards, cheerleaders,
and critics all rolled into one. Mentors give those with less experience an
opportunity to improve their understanding of practices, discuss problems, and
analyze and learn from mistakes in an atmosphere that is collaborative, constructive,
and confidential.
Benefits of Mentoring
Research shows that successful mentoring relationships can benefit both protégés
and mentors. Mentors can receive satisfaction from contributing to the growth,
knowledge, and skills of another individual. They can grow personally and professionally
from the process of engaging in one-to-one learning, and may gain or strengthen
skills and abilities applicable to their own work. Protégés can
gain knowledge, skills and abilities from a more experienced person. Having
a mentor to share concerns with, bounce ideas off, and learn from can increase
protégé self confidence and facilitate taking on a new project
or moving into a new role. Examples of areas that a protégé can
address with a mentor include but are not limited to:
- assistance with development
of a new skill / competency
- feedback about the status
of current competencies
- clarification or critique
of career goals and/or professional progress
- discussion of selected
readings / research
- exploration of new area
of readings / research
- introduction to / referral
through professional network
- discussion or critique
of professional project(s)
- analysis of interpersonal
skills, group dynamics, management skills
- reflections on personal
values, job satisfaction, and career objectives
What Participants
Can Expect From NWA's Mentoring Program
The NWA Program Coordinator will contact each applicant within 10 working days
of receipt of the application. In order to facilitate the best possible match,
the Program Coordinator may clarify questions addressed on the application or
ask additional ones. (As examples - is it important that your match be able
to visit your repository? Is there one specific area you'd like to focus on?)
When a match is made, the Program Coordinator will telephone both the mentor
and the protégé to discuss known factors for increasing the chances
of a successful pairing including adhering to the stated time commitment, and
the importance of making the pairing a collaborative effort. The Coordinator
will also send a list of the "fundamentals of a successful mentoring relationship"
to both the mentor and the protégé, and will reiterate the importance
of the “no-fault” termination agreement.
Both the mentor and protégé
will be encouraged to contact the Program Coordinator at any time about any
issues related to the match. Within the first three months of the match, the
Program Coordinator will contact both the mentor and the protégé
to ensure that contact between the pair has been made and that a schedule for
meetings is in place. At the 11-month point of the pairing, the Program Coordinator
will conduct a confidential survey of mentors and protégés to
gauge their satisfaction with the program and its process. A similar survey
will be conducted between 6 months to a year after the NWA-facilitated match
has concluded. Results of these surveys will be presented to the NWA membership
as a means to assess the Mentoring Program.
Mentoring Program Committee Members
Elizabeth Nielsen, Chair (2007-2009)
Candace Lein-Hayes (2007-2008)
Anne Foster (2007-2009)
Donna McCrea, Program Coordinator (2007-2010)
Bibliography
Last update: November
21, 2007