Alumni Mentor FAQs:
Q: What is the Mentorship Program?
A: An official program partnered between the Cicerones Organization at the University of Florida and the Florida Cicerones Alumni Organization designed to guide and lead Cicerones into the post-college life and into their careers.
Q: There is already a Mentor/Mentee Program. How is this different?
A: No Purple Socks! Cicerones is an important organization that has had a major impact on many of our lives. However, there was a gap between the support received during undergrad and life after graduation. There was a major need to bridge the connection between Cicerone students and alumni. We wanted to create an opportunity for students to expand their network and learn from a peer in a similar field of study while allowing the alumnus to give back. The Mentorship program is designed to fill that gap.
Q: How long is the program?
A: The program officially kicks off on Sept 27th and ends in May. However, feel free to continue to maintain a Mentorship relationship with your student as long as possible. Who knows- you may be celebrating marriages and child births of your student one day!
Q: What is the time commitment of the program?
A: We understand our Alumni body have full-time jobs, are oftentimes raising a family, and probably participate in extra-curricular activities. We recommend that each Mentor/Mentee pair convenes at least FOUR times a year with no maximum number of sessions.
Q: Do we have to meet face-to-face each time?
A: Any way that is convenient to you as a pair whether it’s Zoom, Face-Time, phone calls, snail mail, smoke signals, etc.
Q: What do we cover over the course of a year?
A: Anything Goes! There is a curriculum that covers broad topics such as Networking, Communications, Decision Making, and Leadership. But if your student prefers to learn about your specific industry, paying back student loans, interviewing skills, etc. we encourage you to pivot according to the relationship you are building together.
Q: I’m a Cicerone that graduated from UF five years ago but would like to be mentored in
my field. Can you connect me with a mentor?
A: Definitely! There is a section on the volunteer form where you can choose to be mentored by a more seasoned alumni.
Q: I participated as a Mentor last year and had a great experience. Can I participate again? Will
I have the same student or will I be assigned a new student?
A: Thanks for your participation last year! You are of course welcome to participate again and welcome to stick with your student from last year if both of you want. There is a section on the volunteer to designate this.
Q: How are alumni and students paired?
A: We use a Super Secret Original Recipe complete with 11 herbs and spices! Just kidding. In a nutshell, we use the data that students and alumni share on the volunteer forms. From there, we create pairs with the heaviest weight on current or future industries. The more data there is on the volunteer forms, the more helpful it is for our Pairing Committee.
Q: Is there a cost to participate?
A: Besides your valuable time, energy, wisdom, and love, there are no financial requirements to participate. But feel free to buy your student lunch!
Q: This sounds exciting. How do I sign up? What is the deadline?
A: You can fill out a quick application here. We are accepting applications until September 15th. This will give us time to pair Alumni with Students before our Sept 27th date.
Q: Anything else I need to know about the program?
A: You Rock. C-Luv!