2012 WPDN Mentoring Program

The WPDN has held highly successful mentoring programs for professional staff women every year since 1997.
The program is supported with funding provided by the University of Adelaide.

At the commencement of the program mentorees and mentors will attend sessions throughout the program which will include:

• the benefits of mentoring
• making the most of the mentoring partnership
• structuring their meetings and communication
• active listening
• goal setting
• developing action plans
• team building
• clarifying expectations
• developing a commitment to the mentoring program

Mentorees and mentors will be expected to meet regularly during the six-month program to discuss and review the mentorees’ identified projects or goals.

FACTSHEET DOWNLOADS | Mentors | Mentorees

What is Mentoring?

There are many definitions of mentoring:

"A process of an integrated approach to advising, coaching and nurturing, focused on creating a viable relationship to enhance individual career, personal or professional growth and development." Adams (1998)

"a nurturing process in which a more skilled or more experienced person, serving as a role model, teaches, sponsors, encourages, counsels, and befriends a less skilled or less experienced person for the purpose of promoting the latter's professional and personal development." Anderson and Shannon (as cited in Colwell, 1998)

Mentoring is a relationship of generosity in which one person assists another person to learn something that the learner would otherwise not have learnt so easily or as well.

Mentoring is the process in which successful individuals go out of their way to help others establish goals and develop skills to reach them.

The focus of the mentoring relationship must be on helping the mentoree become strong not on helping them to feel better about being weak.

Effective mentors are enablers not experts.

2012 Dates

Please see our 2012 Program Dates page for information and details

Attendance at the following dates are a compulsory condition of the program for Mentors and Mentorees

• The Welcome Session 4 April 2012
• Mid Year Evaluation 28 June 2012
• End of Program Final Evaluation 24 October 2012

In addition to the above sessions, mentorees and mentors have the opportunity to attend further professional development opportunities.

These are free of charge, and enable you to develop your skills in these areas to enable you to get more out of the Mentoring Program.

How Are People Matched?

Selected participants will be matched as closely as possible to each mentoree’s identified needs and the available mentors.

Your response to the Expression of Interest Questionnaire will be used in the selection process. Please note that your responses may be provided to your mentor.

What happens in a mentoring relationship that enables personal and professional growth to occur?