Creighton Mentor Community
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Inspired by our Ignatian value of cura personalis, the Creighton Mentor Community is a mentoring program designed to enhance the student experience by matching them one-on-one with an alumni mentor.
Creighton alumni mentor serves as a voice of someone that has walked the path and can help give guidance and advice through a student's discernment process. The ability to look back on a common experience with a student and share their wisdom and knowledge, mentors give students a person to ask questions and gain insight into the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead. A student that connects with someone that has faced similar challenges academically, personally, and professionally can make a profound impact on persistence towards graduation.
How It Works
Before being matched, both students and alumni mentors complete a matching survey that asks about their background personally, academically, and professionally. Mentors and students are then matched based on common experiences or interests in their personal background, academic and professional interests, or common challenges they might have faced. We try to find a match that fits a student's needs in their Creighton journey.
What does a mentorship look like?
Each mentorship looks different, and mentors and mentees determine the best way to stay connected. The Creighton Mentor Community program is entirely virtual. Students and their alumni mentor can connect in a variety of ways, text, email, phone, or video chat. (If the mentor is in Omaha, you can always meet in-person, but it is not a requirement.) This allows alums from across the country to serve as mentors and live the Creighton mission of forming men and women for and with others.
What is the time commitment?
The program runs through an academic year, wrapping up in May. While the official program concludes at the end in May, mentors and mentee are welcome to stay connected beyond the end of the school year.
How often should you talk?
As participants in the program, we ask mentors and mentee to connect at least once a month. Some students or alums request more frequent conversations. This is one of the points of consideration the program makes when matching students and mentors.
What do mentors and mentees discuss?
The program has no set requirements about topics for discussion in a mentorship. Some students and mentors might focus on matching course work with career interest, others might focus on finding a path to a major or balancing having fun and getting the job done. However, there are some common questions:
- How will my major impact my professional options?
- How do I balance the demands of school, responsibilities, and socializing?
- How can I set myself up for academic, social, and career success?
- How do I make connections with peers and professional contacts?
- How do I successfully switch majors?
