Dear Virtual Mentors:
Welcome to the winter 2012 leadership virtual mentoring program at Western!
We are excited to launch this year’s class in January and are working on establishing the infrastructure to link 120 mentors to 120 students. This year we’ve created a handbook for mentors which describes the virtual mentor program in more depth and provides sample email exchanges from last year. We’ve also created a calendar of key dates throughout the term so you may know when to expect communication from your student. To view these and other resources, please follow this link: http://www.wwu.edu/morseleadership/professionals/instructions.shtml.
Around Friday, January 6th, you will receive an email message inviting you to join a Google Group. Upon receipt of the invitation email, simply click on “accept this invitation.” This establishes the link between you and your LDST 101 student and provides you with the email address that you will use to reply to messages from your student. One of our senior instructional assistants will initiate the invitation email to you and your student match, so it may be from a name you don’t recognize. Please check your spam/junk mail if you don’t see the email within a few days. By January 13th, you may expect to receive an initial email from your LDST 101 student.
Throughout the term you will be supported by a Virtual Mentor Coordinator (VMC). These individuals are volunteers like yourself, but have received a bit more training and have a greater level of access, and are available to help troubleshoot issues or provide help as needed. A roster of VMC names is provided on our web site. You will be contacted by your VMC in early January so that you will have their contact information. You may never need to interact with your VMC, but should you encounter a technical or other difficulty (student not writing? not sure what to say?), know that they are there for you.
Again, much of this information is provided in the virtual mentor handbook and I encourage you to give it a quick look. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at morse.institute@wwu.edu.
Have a wonderful holiday season,
Wendy Knight | Administrative Assistant to the VPUE & to the Director of the Morse Institute for Leadership | Office of the Provost Western Washington University | 360-650-2292