The always popular Biennial Mentoring Program, in its fifth appearance, will extend throughout the biennial conference, from Wednesday evening to Sunday morning.  A Mentee may be a student (high school through postdoc, in community psychology or related fields); an early career professional; or a mid-career professional new to the field of community psychology.  Designated Mentors (21 of them) range from current community psychology graduate students through senior professionals -- collectively covering a wide diversity of backgrounds, interests and skills -- and all are enthusiastic about mentoring.  A Mentoring Packet (instructions, an annotated roster of the Mentors, and the schedule and topics for small groups) is available, upon request, at the Conference Registration Desk (Congress Lounge, Roosevelt).  The program consists of:

Orientation Breakfast - (Friday 8-9 am, Roosevelt 320).  Here, you will be oriented to (empowered by) the Mentoring Program.  Tips will be shared on how to take full advantage of the biennial conference and of the mentoring opportunities.  You'll learn how, with a little effort and resourcefulness, to be proactive and have a successful conference, so you won't return home, kicking yourself for not having taken full advantage of the great opportunities available.

Lunchtime Small Groups - (Friday and/or Saturday lunchtime).  Each of the 21 Mentors will host one small group (with a maximum of 8 Mentees per group) on a scheduled topic, involving a free-wheeling discussion.  Topics will include a range of career and/or substantive issues (see the list and schedule below).  Because of the popularity of these groups and to keep them small, you must pre-reserve your space in a group.  Sign-up sheets will be posted on Mentoring bulletin boards in Congress Lounge, Roosevelt, indicating the discussion topic, the Mentor/ host, and when/where each group will meet.  First come/first served. If you are a "power mentee," (see below), you'll have the opportunity to reserve space in one group prior to onsite signup.

At every biennial, a certain number of persons who sign up for these groups do not show up.  It is essential that you cross off your name, as soon as possible, if you changed your mind, allowing someone else to take your place.

While the orientation breakfast and lunchtime small groups are very popular, the rest of the program (for individual mentoring) is even more important.  The following activities require a more proactive response from you, but the benefits are far greater.

Individual Mentoring - The Mentors will wear a raspberry colored "Mentor" ribbon to signal their availability to talk with you, one-on-one, right then and there, or you can arrange a more convenient time to meet.  (Mentors have been instructed to pocket the ribbon when they are not available to mentor.  They are "off duty" when not wearing their raspberry ribbon, so please respect that "signal."

To more easily find Mentors, we are instituting informal Speed Mentoring.  Mentors will, when they have free time, sit in Congress Lounge, Roosevelt, available for very brief chats.  Finally, we are conducting a "Find the Mentor" contest, in which each Mentor from whom you receive individualmentoring will, on your request, sign an autograph page.  The 3 mentees who obtain autographs from the most Mentors will win a prize - the opportunity to have a telephone conversation, on the topic of the winners' choosing, with a prominent Community Psychologist, after the biennial. Further instructions are contained in the Mentoring Packet, received at registration.

POWER MENTEES:  Past history has shown that a core group of approximately 35 mentees become "power users" of the Biennial Mentoring Program.  It would be very useful for me to pre-identify these mentees so I can target them for special attention.  So if you are highly motivated to receive individualmentoring, beyond simply attending group sessions, please complete an online survey.  As an incentive, Mentees who fully complete a survey by June 12, will be guaranteed a pre-reserved space in one small group discussion of their choice.  Sorry, that's the cutoff date, no exceptions.  (Otherwise, sign up is "first come, first served" onsite at the conference.)  I'll contact the self designated "power mentees" to confirm.

The following link will take you to the Survey for "power mentees":  

http://surveymonkey.com/s/CJCKFLY

For further information about the SCRA Biennial Mentoring Program, contact glorialevin@verizon.net .  I'm looking forward to meeting and empowering you at the biennial conference.

Gloria Levin

Biennial Mentoring Coordinator

Small Group Discussions (all in Roosevelt)

Friday, June 17 (12:30 - 1:30 pm)

Fabricio Balcazar  Finding the right mentors to advance your career

Michelle Bloodworth  Combining your career and family

David Chavis  Careers in community change

Joe Galano  Forging partnerships between universities and communities

Rich Jenkins  Learning about federal grants, jobs, resources

Robin Miller  Getting your work published

Anne Mulvey  Feminist teaching, activism and the arts

Emily Ozer  Partnering with community schools

Beth Shinn  Influencing public policy with your research findings

Darius Tandon  Obtaining external research funding

Nellie Tran  Thriving in academia as a person of color

Saturday, June 18 (12 ‐ 1 pm)

Todd Bottom  A chat with undergrads and incoming grad students

Victoria Chien  A chat with undergrads and incoming grad students

Jim Emshoff  Setting up a consulting business

Paul Flaspohler  Combining clinical and community in your career

Gloria Levin  International development opportunities

David Lounsbury  Doing community psychology in medical settings

Pamela Martin  Acquiring community psychology skills

Michele Schlehofer  Applying for academic jobs, post PhD

Susan Wolfe   Exploring practice career options

Tom Wolff   Being an activist community psychology practitioner