Mentorship Program

The Role of the Mentor:

• Informs, advises and encourages the Protégé to define and achieve academic and career goals.
• Establishes sound lines of communication with the protégé.
• Realizes the value of her/his life choices and career experiences.
• Acknowledges the importance of role modeling and personal relationships in empowering less experienced Protégé who has chosen a similar field of study or career path.
• Introduces and initiates the Protégé in the customs, demands and expectations of academic or professional life.
• Bridges the Protégé's classroom experiences and their professional future.
• Benefits from the reciprocal exchange of life experiences with the Protégé.
• Derives satisfaction from enabling the Protégé to grow and thrive in academic and professional endeavors.

The Role of the Protégé:

• Assesses why a mentor is needed and identifies expectations of learning from mentor.
• Committed and willing to enter into the mentorship relationship.
• Develops a plan for accomplishing goals.
• Listens to advice and responds appropriately.
• Responsible for taking the initiative and showing resourcefulness.

The Purpose/Relationship between the Mentor/Protégé

The Resort & Hospitality Management Mentorship Program is a Student Mentorship Program coordinated with the guidance of area industry professionals. This program allows FGCU Resort & Hospitality Management students the opportunity to develop professional relationships with business leaders in conjunction with improving each student's career development. The purpose of the program is to assist in the enhancement of the student's knowledge as it relates to the dynamics of the resort industry. It is the transition for students to correlate and witness the classroom knowledge as it relates to daily operations in today's diverse industry. In order to participate in this program the student must be of the Junior (second semester) status.

In order to increase involvement and utilize the knowledge of the industry professionals and the interest of the students, each participant is required to complete a short application. This application will allow for proper placement of the student and industry professional for the mentorship. The mentor relationship will last one year. The student and mentor can choose to have each other every year, or the mentor may be switched.

The mentorship program dictates at a minimum a one day shadowing experience and an additional four one on one meetings between the student and industry professional per year.