The Berkeley Mentorship Cohort (BMC) is a year-long program that aims to cultivate an inclusive academic community for diverse groups of engineering scholars at Cal. In efforts to bolster retention and a sense of belonging for members of the Berkeley Engineering community, the BMC establishes a precedent of comprehensive peer, faculty and alumni mentorship. This program partners students with effective mentors, then equips all parties with digital libraries of campus resources, literature reviews on effective mentoring practices and platforms to share the wisdom of the Berkeley community.

The 2021-22 pilot program will pair first-year undergraduate students with peer mentors. In subsequent phases of the program, we will implement alumni and faculty mentorship and expand the program to serve graduate students and postdoctoral scholars.

Benefits of being a mentor:

-Receive training to acquire mentoring skills
-Gain the advising skills necessary to provide mentees with valuable information about academic, professional, and social resources both on and off campus
-Participate in professional development workshops
-Help cultivate an engineering community!

Mentors are required to:

-Attend mandatory training sessions throughout the year
-Attend all events hosted by the program
-Engage in monthly one-on-one meetings with your mentee
-Meet with the program manager throughout the semester to update on progress and discuss any challenges

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This application consists of 20 questions that are multiple choice or very short answer, such as your name and contact information. There are 5 questions that are short answer (1-2 sentences) and 4 questions that are longer. You can preview all questions and draft your responses here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ideOvceZL7H27M-eEaj-m35-vKxnrwG7_oiv7tdnU2g/edit?usp=sharing

MENTOR APPLICATION DEADLINE: Extended to Tuesday, August 24, 2021 by 11:59pm PST

If you have any questions, please e-mail Claire-Marie Kooi at clairemariekooi@berkeley.edu. Thank you!