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Become an APSA Mentor

How the APSA Mentor Program Works for Mentors
The APSA Mentor Program aims to connect students, scholars, and professionals seeking advice, support, and guidance with volunteer mentors in the discipline. APSA encourages members to share their expertise and experience through mentoring.

 

Become a Mentor

The Matching Process

 

Submit the online form by clicking the button above: On the form, you will be asked to provide contact information and a short bio, along with the type of mentoring you are willing to provide -- either generalized or specialized (you may select both):

  • Generalized mentors address a wide variety of concerns and questions from mentees on a continuing basis. The nature of the mentoring will vary from case to case.
  • Specialized mentors share their experience with specific areas or concerns in the discipline and are willing to provide assistance with specific topics.

You will also be asked whether you can provide short term (one semester) or long term (one academic year) mentoring.

APSA will match you with a mentee: If your profile matches a request from someone seeking an APSA Mentor, APSA will provide your contact information to the potential mentee, so they can contact you directly. APSA makes matches twice a year: once in the fall semester (for short term and long term mentoring) and once in the spring semester (for short term mentoring).

The Mentee will contact you: They are asked to contact you within the first 48 hour of receiving the match information. If you do not hear from them, it is okay to make the initiative and reach out to the mentee. For many, this may be their first experience. We ask that you respond to inquiries from potential mentees.

APSA staff provide a mentor-mentee orientation webinar at the beginning of the match period. This is an expected component of APSA mentoring.

APSA staff will check in with you and your mentee about a month after the match has been made, in order to assess the process. 

Note: Mentors can end their participation at any time by contacting APSA at mentoring@apsanet.org.

A list of frequently asked questions can be found here. 

Mentoring Resources

APSA has compiled a list of mentoring resources for faculty who want to learn more about mentoring. These resources provide best practices and innovative approaches to mentoring.

The APSA Committee on the Status of Women in the Profession, the Committee on the Status of Blacks in the Profession and the Committee on the Status of Latinos and Latinas have a long history of providing mentor resources. Visit the Committee on the Status of Women's Mentor Resource Page.