Faculty & Staff Mentoring
READING BETWEEN THE LINES
The Pro Humanitate Mentoring Program @ Wake Forest University
A GUIDE FOR MENTORS
Definitions
Mentoring: “…is a guiding process that fosters the growth and development of the protégé.” (Shandley, 1989, p.60).
The term mentor actually comes from the world of Greek mythology. Ulysses places his son Telemachus under the tutelage and care of a wise sage named Mentor. Ulysses was away fighting in the Trojan War, so Mentor was responsible for teaching young Telemachus “not only in book learning but also in the wiles of the world.” Mentor’s task was to provide an education of soul and spirit as well as mind, an education in wisdom and not merely in information.
The mentor is a teacher or advisor who leads through guidance. S/he challenges and helps in the development of the mentee by providing experienced guidance, spiritual council, and practical advice. The mentor also sponsors and befriends his/her mentee(s) and helps them to become more mature, independent, and ready to meet the challenges of life at Wake Forest and beyond.
A mentee “is one who is under the care and protection of an experienced, influential and prominent person who will further the protégé’s (mentee’s) career.
(Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary). The mentee must be willing to be guided and advised, and to share her/himself with the mentor, in order for the relationship to be successful.
Mentoring has a trajectory, an aim. It is not mindless or soulless meandering but a journey with a spiritual purpose. It is the task of the mentor to help the mentee sink deep enough into their lives to discover that purpose.
A partial list of mentoring purposes includes, but is not limited to:
- Encouragement
- Accountability
- A reminder of spiritual identity
- Wisdom-giving
- Empowerment
- Appeal for growth
One should also realize that there are many purposes that mentoring does not fulfill. Mentoring is not
- Career counseling, though it may ask the question of vocation and call
- Psychological counseling, though it may probe the life of the inward psyche of another
- Pastoral counseling, though it may be practiced by those campus ministers gifted for mentoring
- Advice-giving, though wisdom is the language spoken by mentors
- Teaching in a traditional meaning of transmitting information, though it will include times of instruction
- Discipling, where the goal is to teach a believer foundational truths and personal mastery of spiritual disciplines
- Confession of one to another, though the mentor may assist the mentee to give voice to his or her own confession to a campus minister
A WORD TO WOULD-BE MENTORS
You have been asked to become a mentor to a Wake Forest student. There are few honors in life more precious than to walk alongside a young man or woman on a journey of personal formation. If you feel overwhelmed and doubt your worthiness for the task, this is a good sign that you are ready and may be qualified, for the role of mentor begins with humility.
A commitment of time is necessary for mentoring. Time to listen to life together for the rhythm of God’s movement and time to listen to life alone, when each of you will meet in the space of reflective thought. There are days when mentoring seems a quiet, wasteful way to spend an hour or two. The conversation is often about little things rather than grand things. The pace is often pensive and slow. The process is sometimes stuttering, for there are large silent spaces in the conversation of reflection, but in such hours, souls are freed and spirits soar.
Last of all, we want to remind you that the work of ahead of you will require of you the development of an open heart. To be an effective mentor one must learn to listen. To be effectively mentored, one must develop equally well an openness of hear and a sincere desire to be “transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom 12:2).
THE PRO HUMANITATE MENTORING PROGRAM
The Pro Humanitate Mentoring Program began in the fall of 2008. Mentor/Mentee matches will be made using data collected from each group and matches are made based on:
- Academic interests
- Vocational interests
- Religious and spiritual identities
- Shared experiences
Mentors and mentees should meet at least five times during the semester. You may choose to establish electronic methods of communication via email or phone. Others may find it easier and more productive to meet over lunch, dinner, or coffee. These venues are perfectly acceptable. Since mentoring is a learned skill, a recommended bibliography is provided as an attachment to this Guide.
The program is Christian in orientation but nonsectarian, and we welcome participants of any faith perspective. No attempt is made to indoctrinate or change beliefs. Students are simply offered ways to use their beliefs in discovery and analysis of their individual life’s goals and meanings.
For more information, please contact Chris Towles, WFU Phone: 336-758-4450 or email: towlescj@wfu.edu.