Vision Statement
Purpose
The purpose of the CWRA SYP mentoring program is to promote the management of Canada’s water resources by strengthening the professional capacity of students and young professionals through meaningful mentorship opportunities and/or relationships. While mutually benefiting students, young professionals, and CWRA professionals, this program will foster a larger professional water community.
Background
During the 2005 CWRA Annual Conference SYP leaders from across the country had an opportunity to meet and brainstorm with some of the National Executive and Board members of the organization. During that session members discussed future directions
for the SYP within the CWRA and identified programs that the SYP sub-committee would be interested in starting—a mentorship program was one of them. A mentorship program would help the CWRA SYP movement meet many of the strategic goals as
established by the organization, including
- Priority Goal 1: Improved communications among water resources professionals.
- Priority Goal 3: Increased profile for the organization
- Priority Goal 5: Effective management and development of the association
The following sections outline ways in which a mentorship program can help CWRA
achieve its strategic goals.
Section 1: Program Vision
Goals and Objectives
Goal 1: Networking
Create a network structure for existing and aspiring professionals to exchange information, knowledge, and experience. Objectives:
- Generate an electronic and in-person network linking experienced CWRA members with young professionals/students in the early stages of their careers.
- Improve career development through networking with mentors.
- Provide information on career requirements and opportunities and research opportunities through mentor relationships and through an online database.
Strategies:
1.1 Develop regional and national networks of participants willing to mentor young professionals according to geographic considerations, disciplinary interests, and/or professional experiences.
1.2 Develop a virtual resource centre to provide mentoring skills and tools resources in order to increase the ability of mentors and mentees to conduct successful mentoring relationships.
1.3 Use the CWRA Annual National Conference as an opportunity for mentors and mentees to meet – if distance typically precludes face-to-face exchanges – and for the mentors to take the mentees under their “wing” at the conference, for example, by making introductions or providing constructive comments on conference presentations, etc.
Goal 2: Knowledge sharing
Transfer and share professional memory, experience, and insight from CWRA members and the CWRA organization to aspiring and young professionals.
Objectives:
- Improve knowledge transfer of experienced professionals to new and aspiring professionals within the water resources management sector. This is particularly important given the sector’s changing demographic realities (e.g., impending retirements).
- Improve competency and confidence levels of new and aspiring professionals through sharing knowledge and practical experience.
- Increase young professionals’ implicit and explicit appreciation and orientation of the field.
- Facilitate opportunities for professionals to share their diverse experiences and practical knowledge.
- Bridge the gap between academic and professional knowledge.
Strategies:
2.1 Create a professional mentorship pool that would be available to all CWRA members.
2.2 Promote the mentoring program across CWRA, to both professionals and SYP.
2.3 Establish mentoring pools based on expertise and professional discipline (e.g.,hydrogeology, toxicology, engineering, aquatic biology, and policy).
2.4 Establish a web-based resource information centre and database for regional and
national levels that is accessible to all CWRA members.
Goal 3: Building SYP membership
Encourage student and young professional members to participate and maintain membership, and encourage new membership through mentorship opportunities.
Objectives:
- Provide a beneficial service to SYP-CWRA members to support their participation and retention.
- Maintain the vitality of the organization by encouraging students and young professional involvement and engagement with more senior members.
- Encourage young professionals to continue their involvement with the SYPCWRA after graduation.
Strategies:
3.1 Promote mentorship program in universities through Chapter activities and through the website.
3.2 Promote the program to delegates at CWRA national conferences.
Goal 4: Building CWRA membership
Encourage members to participate and maintain membership and encourage new membership through mentoring opportunities.
Objectives:
- Provide the opportunity for CWRA professionals to share insight, knowledge, and experience to aspiring professionals.
- Provide the opportunity to enhance coaching, communication, and leadership skills as well as self-knowledge and personal growth.
- Develop succession planning1 initiatives through developing mentor-mentee relationships.
Strategies:
4.1 Encourage support and participation from CWRA professionals by promoting the program at the branch level.
4.2 Provide and promote succession planning as a benefit for CWRA professionals.
4.3 Encourage mentors to promote job shadowing, co-operative employments placements, or temporary assignments for mentees in their workplaces.
4.4 Encourage the use of CWRA web page to post vacancies so that mentees can be made aware of opportunities in different organizations and sectors.
4.5 Provide a location (e.g., online) where young professionals can post their resumes for potential mentor access.
Principles
Guiding Principles:
- Mentor/mentee commit to an open sharing of information.
- Content will focus on intellectual endeavours and career opportunities in the water resources field.
- Mentor will engage in the program for the support of the mentee.
- Mentor and mentee will observe high professional and personal standards and ethics.
Section 2: Implementation
Steps to Program Implementation
- Gain the Board of Directors’ approval of the program in principle and establish a reporting relationship. Manitoba Branch has approved a regional pilot project launch for January 2006.
- Establish institutional arrangement: The volunteer sub-committee will oversee and administer the program and reports to the Board of Directors, i.e., through SYP representatives on the Board. The sub-committee is accountable to the Board of Directors, which is ultimately accountable.
- Focus regionally. Each SYP chapter will gain support from its respective regional professional branch and begin the process of establishing mentorship program structure and relationships. The regional-node approach will make the program development process more manageable and allow the program to rollout as interest and resources permit. Communication and coordination between regional nodes would also rely on volunteer effort.
- At the national scale link regional nodes of the mentorship program through sharing information and experience. Where regional mentorship relationships are not possible, these relationships can develop at the national level.
- Establish program functioning primarily based on volunteer effort. This volunteer commitment includes recruitment of mentors and mentees, surveying and matching participants, facilitating introductions and relationship establishment, providing information resources, “firefighting” problems, and evaluation and assessment of the program.
- Eventually find appropriate resources to fund a coordinator to facilitate the program at a national level. The coordinator would communicate between the regional nodes, develop and/or maintain a national database of mentors and mentees and a virtual resources centre, and help keep the national CWRA website updated with mentorship program initiatives and progress. In the interim an honorarium may be offered, possibly from the SYP budget, for a coordinator position. The program may require more funding later as it grows.
- Develop an online database of interested mentors and mentees, enabling crossreferenced and manual matches.
- Develop a virtual resource centre for orientation, tips for mentors and mentees, and so forth, and provide input to the CWRA national website.
- Evaluate the Manitoba pilot project as it develops prior to June 2006.
- Announce mentorship program at CWRA National Conference, June 2006.
- Identify barriers to mentoring and develop strategies to address those barriers deemed to be significant to the program’s success.
- Develop an evaluation element to the program.
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