Advancing YU | Alumni Information

Are you a LA&PS alum looking to help shape the leaders of tomorrow?

The Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies has established a new program to help advance Black and women students. The Advancing YU program pairs you with third- and fourth-year students preparing for graduation. Share your knowledge and expertise, gain new perspectives and make an impact on a student's trajectory.

Commitment

1-2 mentorship hours
per month

Review mentee reports

Attending celebration events

Quick Links

Contact

David Watkinson
Awards Coordinator, Advancement
dwatkin4@yorku.ca

Frequently Asked Questions

The program is open to third- and fourth-year undergraduate LA&PS students who self-identify as Black or as women. All interested women students falling under this criterion must complete an application.

There is no specific grade requirement. Advancing YU is designed to serve students looking to form connections with professionals in the field. Students with any grade point average can equally benefit from the program.

There will be a combination of both components in the program. Depending on the student's needs and the connection made between the mentor and the mentee, the Faculty hopes that the relationships built throughout the academic year will exceed the program duration.

The student engagement team and advancement team have worked together closely in creating an outline that suggests topics and themes for discussion in the meetings. However, this outline is simply an aid. Mentors and mentees are free to discuss other topics that they feel are important to the mentee's professional development.

Interactions between mentor and mentees are designed to occur virtually via Zoom. If the government restrictions at the time allow for in-person interactions and the mentor and mentees wish to arrange in-person activities (ex. shadowing the mentor's workday), they may do so. These in-person activities would also count towards the 8-hour minimum requirement the program demands.

The mentor can choose to structure virtual meetings in any form that they feel will be most suitable.

Mentors can individually engage with each of the mentees by setting up different meeting times. Mentors can also arrange meetings to engage with all of the mentees simultaneously, instead of individually.

The Faculty suggests that if mentees appear to have similar interests for discussion topics (ex. all mentees want to discuss about expanding their professional network) that mentors hold collective meetings. In the case that all three mentees prefer to discuss completely different topics, the Faculty suggests holding individual meetings instead. These are simply suggestions. Mentors will be the sole decision makers in determining what they feel will be most suitable/beneficial for the design of their quartet.

The 8-to-10-hour mark is simply a minimum requirement to complete. Mentors and mentees are free to spend more time together for the purpose of this program, as there is no cut off for the maximum hours.

If a mentor is unable to connect separately with all three mentees, the Faculty suggests connecting with mentees in group meetings. Mentors will determine the timing of these meetings. Furthermore, the Faculty also recommends that if mentors notice similar conversation patterns between even two of the mentees, those two mentees can be scheduled in meetings together if a mentor cannot meet with all three mentees separately.

Lastly, for some meetings, mentors are also encouraged to introduce the mentees to another leadership figure within their network, especially if that interaction will be useful for the mentees' professional development. Such interactions will also count towards the minimum 8–10-hour requirement.

Each mentor and mentee are required to fill out an individual machform. This form assists the advancement team in understanding which mentors and mentees will be most compatible with one another. For example, if a certain mentor is a first-generation student to attend university and belongs to a minority group, this mentor will likely be paired with mentees who are also first-generation students belonging to visible minority groups.

The first week of the program has been designed in such a way that if any major complications between certain mentors and mentees arise, a reassignment of the quartet is possible.

A mentor that has provided a $1000 donation will not receive fewer benefits than a mentor that has provided a $5000 donation.

Larger donations help in filling the overall donation pot and can assist the program by ensuring all students receive financial rewards in the case where some mentors are unable to fully contribute for their quartet.

The usage of the financial award will not be tracked or limited for selective use because it can be of assistance in several areas.

The Faculty believes that students who will apply and be selected for the program will utilize the financial award in a positive way - such as towards paying for a meal plan, tuition fees, textbook fees, buying professional apparel for interviews, paying for rent, paying for school supplies, etc.

Prior to the start of the program, students will attend a training session which will cover guidelines emphasizing topics that are appropriate to discuss in meetings/interactions. The training session will also go over the rule of avoiding discussing personal/sensitive topics.

LinkedIn groups with all mentors and mentees involved in both streams of the Advancing YU program will be created. In these groups, mentors and mentees are encouraged to interact and connect with other mentors and mentees outside of their quartet and share their progress and experiences.

Additionally, on March 29, 2022, a convocation ceremony (predicted to be in-person as of now) will be designed to celebrate the successful completion of the program. This ceremony is meant to further connect all mentors and mentees and to collectively celebrate everyone's progress.

One of the main methods of tracking progress for this program is through having students complete reflections. These reflections will be thoroughly analyzed by the advancement and student engagement teams to determine whether the program is effective and creating an impact.

Monthly Mentorship

Discussion Prompts

University Experience

Discuss activities/clubs' students have previously been/currently involved in
Discuss whether students are satisfied with their academic performance
Discuss initiatives students are taking to achieve academic success
Discuss whether students plan on completing further education or completing certifications (BHRM --> CHRP; Accounting --> CPA etc.)

Networking

How to expand your network
How to build strong connections
Ask students how they have been involved in networking

Post-graduation plans

How to make your degree useful
Graduate studies
Applying for jobs

Upcoming Events

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Consider attending events, financially supporting students or getting in touch with us to learn more!

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