Mentors have the opportunity to meaningfully influence the development of Rutgers business students through the TeamUP Undergraduate Mentoring Program, the TeamUP MBA Mentoring Program, RBS UFirst Mentoring, or all three. Rutgers Business School Mentors engage with the plans and aspirations of motivated Rutgers business students and help in their transformation into successful business professionals. A mentor's role is to inspire, encourage and support your mentee as well as to contribute to their personal, professional, and ethical development.
TeamUP Program Structure
- Duration of program: 4-5 months (Jan-June, and/or September-January)
- Approximate Time Commitment: 5 hours total
- Required activities/steps include:
- Complete an Online TeamUP Mentor Application form
- Once accepted, familiarize yourself with the mentoring process through an online training for mentors.
- Maintain contact with your student mentee between meetings (email/phone).
- Complete an Online Evaluation at the end of the program.
- Undergraduate Program: Have three meetings with your student mentee
- MBA Program: Have five hours of contact with your student mentee, either through meetings, phone calls, or emails.
- Eligibility:
- The ability to commit 5 hours of your time (total) in a 4-5 month (one academic semester) mentoring period.
- The ability to commit to your role as a mentor and share your personal/professional experiences and insights with them.
- Undergraduate Program: Business professional with a minimum of 3 years of experience.
- MBA Program: Business professional with a minimum of 8 years of experience.
UFirst Mentoring Program Structure
- Duration of program: 1 academic year (September – May)
- Approximate Time Commitment: 5 hours total
- Required activities/steps include:
- Complete an Online Mentor Application form (indicate your interest in UFirst Mentoring Program)
- Once accepted and selected as a mentor, attend an orientation.
- Attend at least 2 mentoring meetings per semester with your assigned mentee.
- Maintain contact with your student mentee between meetings (email/phone).
- Complete an Online Evaluation at the end of the program.
- Eligibility
- First-generation college graduate
- Business professionals with a minimum of 3 years of professional experience.
- The ability to commit 5 hours of your time (total) for an academic year mentoring period
- The ability to commit to your role as a mentor and share your personal/professional experiences and insights with them.
Expectations of Mentors
- Set aside time for the mentoring process and honor all appointments.
- Invite the mentee to meetings or activities as appropriate. Structure meetings with planned topics.
- Be flexible on meeting times and places.
- Respond to emails from your mentee in a timely manner. Keep TeamUP administrators or the student informed if there is going to be a delay in scheduling a meeting.
- Keep information that your mentee has shared with you confidential. If something concerning the mentee needs to be discussed with others, it should first be discussed within the mentoring relationship.
- Establish open, honest communication and a forum for idea exchange.
- Foster creativity and independence. Help build self-confidence and offer encouragement.
- Provide honest and timely feedback to your mentee.
- Provide opportunities for the mentee to talk about concerns and ask questions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are there any potential risks to me or my company?
No. It is not appropriate for mentors to engage in any business transactions with their mentees; instead, the relationship should only involve the flow of general information and advice.
How do I sign up to mentor?
If you would like to mentor undergraduate students, MBA students, or both, you can apply to join TeamUP as a mentor by clicking on the “Sign Up as a Mentor” button at the top of this page. Please refer to the eligibility requirements above before applying. If you are interested in being a Group Mentoring mentor, please indicate so when prompted on the application.
Can I mentor undergraduate and MBA students?
Yes, mentors are given the opportunity to sign up for the undergraduate TeamUP program, the MBA TeamUP program, or both. Before signing up, you should review the eligibility requirements to ensure you qualify for the program you are interested in. Group Mentoring Program mentors interact with and mentor undergraduate students.
Do I get to choose who I mentor?
For TeamUP: Yes, primarily, mentors are able to decide who they mentor. During the assigned matching week prior to the start of the semester, mentors will receive requests from students who are interested in their mentorship; however, it is ultimately up to the mentor to accept or decline the invitation. Mentors are able to determine whether they will mentor a student who requests them or not. Occasionally, mentors will be assigned a student from the pool.
For Group Mentoring: Mentors are able to indicate which group they are interested in mentoring. Our Group Mentoring Programs are catered and open to specific populations of students (GearUP - first-year students, RBS Works - full/part-time working students, RBS GROWS - women undergraduate students).
How do I get matched with a mentee?
For TeamUP: The Chronus platform populates potential matches for students based on an algorithm that analyzes the profile responses of both students and mentors. During Mentor Matching Week, students send requests to mentors. After receiving an invitation from a student, you may either accept or decline a student’s invitation. Depending on your availability, you can mentor one or two students.
For Group Mentoring: Administrators select and assign mentors to a specific group/session based on their background and expertise. Mentors are given the opportunity to accept or decline the invitation to mentor that group.
Do I have to mentor a student every semester?
No. Your profile on Chronus allows you to list your availability for each semester. We encourage you to fill out this field with your availability whether or not you are very available or not at all. You also have the option to deactivate your profile if you are not available for a certain time period. Additionally, you may not receive a request to mentor from a student every semester.
Am I able to change my availability if I cannot mentor a certain semester?
Yes. Your profile on Chronus allows you to list your availability for each semester. We encourage you to fill out this field with your availability, whether or not you are very available or not at all. You also have the option to deactivate your profile if you are not available for a certain period. If you would like to deactivate your profile, please contact the program administrators with your request.
How much time can I expect to spend mentoring during the semester?
For TeamUP: Generally, mentors will commit 5 total hours to mentoring in a semester; however, some mentoring pairs will meet more often. While the minimum is 3 meetings (Undergraduate) or 5 hours of contact (MBA), some pairs choose to meet more often. We encourage students and mentors to meet as many times as they would like and dedicate time to the program so that they each have a successful experience.
For Group Mentoring: Mentors spend an hour leading a session one time during the semester. Prep time varies between mentors; however, we expect that mentors will commit a total of 1-2 hours total for their session.
Can I mentor more than one student?
For TeamUP: Yes, you can mentor up to two students, but you should only agree to mentor more than one student if you have sufficient time to allocate to each mentoring relationship. Before committing to two mentees, ensure that you have the time and energy to offer and ensure each mentoring relationship is successful and impactful for all parties involved.
For Group Mentoring: Each group consists of 10-15 students.
Where do the mentoring meetings take place?
For TeamUP: Each mentoring pair determines their own meeting place. Mentors and mentees decide where to meet based on what is most convenient and effective for them. Some potential meeting places include a local coffee shop or café, Rutgers campus, the mentor’s office, etc. While we recommend trying to meet in person as often as possible, pairs can fulfill the meeting requirements virtually.
For Group Mentoring: Certain groups meet in person while others meet virtually. The groups that meet in person conduct the session within the RBS building on campus.
I signed up to mentor, but no one has contacted me. Why?
For TeamUP: Mentor matching takes place a few weeks prior to each semester; therefore, you will receive requests from students in August and/or January. If you did not receive a request during that time, our students in the program that semester may not have been looking for mentorship in your area of expertise. We maintain a large, diverse pool of mentors for our TeamUP program to make sure our students have ample choices to fit their interests. If you are continually not requested to mentor, please contact the program administrators for assistance.
For Group Mentoring: Due to the limited number of groups, not all interested mentors will be selected to lead a session each semester. If you are continually not requested to mentor, please contact the program administrators for assistance.
What can I do if the mentoring relationship is not going well? (TeamUP)
While we hope that every mentoring pair works well and is fruitful, we understand that sometimes this is not the case. If there is an issue in your mentoring relationship (student hasn’t contacted you, student isn’t responsive, you cannot offer the type of guidance the student is seeking), please reach out to the program administrators with your concern. We approach each situation on a case-by-case basis and work with you to determine the best solution.
Do I have to mentor every student who contacts me? (TeamUP)
Mentors will receive requests from students who are interested in their mentorship; however, it is ultimately up to the mentor to accept or decline the invitation. Mentors are able to determine whether they will mentor a student who requests them or not.
How long or how many times can a mentor or mentee stay connected?
While each mentoring relationship only lasts one semester in a formal capacity, mentors and mentees are welcome to continue their mentoring relationship outside of the program for as long as they would like. Make sure to have this discussion with your mentee if this is something of interest.
Is there an opportunity for the business professionals serving as mentors to meet?
Yes. Each spring we host a Mentoring Celebration where mentors and students are invited to celebrate their mentoring relationships. This is also an opportunity for mentors to connect and network.