By David Paltza, AACRAO Community and Content Facilitator
AACRAO’s new Peer Mentorship program is off to an excellent start.
The goal of this program is to foster a peer-horizontal relationship, rather than a hierarchical-vertical format, for the participants, such that they can learn from each other and let their mutual growth guide their journey together. Matched as pairs, peer mentors can expect to contribute and glean from each other’s strengths and experiences, and even personal lifestyles and cultures, if they so desire. The program leadership will also conduct regular surveys and check-ins to ensure everyone is empowered to make the most of this opportunity.
What’s happened so far:
At the February 2024 AACRAO Collective Gathering, we kicked off the program with the topic: “AACRAO Mentorship – Coast to Coast, Shoulder to Shoulder” and had some invaluable time for discussion and breakout groups. In fact, we surveyed the attendees and found that about 60% had never participated in a mentoring program before, and 41% felt their institution did not have a good professional development program. So, we are excited to offer this new opportunity, fill those gaps, and take our community to greater heights!
We then opened up the application for a 3-week window, through which applicants provided helpful information and ranked themselves according to AACRAO’s Core Competencies, as their self-perceived areas of strength (to help their peer) to areas of growth (to learn from their peer).
By the March 18th deadline we had an impressive inaugural 121 applicants! These were then paired up by a thorough method, taking into careful consideration everyone’s areas of strength and growth, preferences, experience, and geographic placement. We have good expectations of these matches and are confident each pair will benefit in great ways in their journey together.
What’s next:
Run with it. While the program is designed for mentoring relationships to be organic and flexible, peer mentors are encouraged to meet at least once a month virtually. Each pair can discuss and agree on expectations and desired outcomes, whether it be timely career goals, overall leadership development, evolving ambitions, etc.
Participants have been added to the Peer Mentors AACRAO Exchange, where open collaboration, reflection, and feedback will be continually encouraged. Here, the program leadership will also feature “Mentor Mondays” in which a mentoring tip will be posted each week to foster the maximization of this experience together.
Join us! If you missed this inaugural round of applications, no need to worry. We will open the application window twice each year, in February and in September. Just stay connected with our networking and communication, especially the Collective Gatherings and Connect articles.
Congratulations and thank you to those who have joined us in this program. We are excited about all that this will offer our AACRAO community.