Successful pilot of mentor scheme for ethnic minorities

The University of Teesside has successfully piloted a Mentor Scheme for Ethnic Minority Undergraduates. John Hackney, Chair of Governors, will join the mentees and mentors at a special awards ceremony at the University on Tuesday 16 May.

The scheme, part of the National Mentoring Consortium, was founded in 1992 by Norman McLean, OBE, the first black Careers Adviser in British higher education and was set up to prepare and develop high-calibre ethnic minority graduates for successful job recruitment.

Dr Sheena Maberly, Careers Adviser in the University of Teesside’s Department of Student Services, has been the facilitator of the six months programme. Prospective mentees underwent a competitive selection process, which has involved Cleveland Police, Barclays Bank and Inland Revenue North as mentor organisations.

Dr Maberly said: "The scheme is very much about one-to-one personal commitment and motivation. The short term objectives centre around building students' confidence and personal skills, such as communication which will help to prepare them for the job market."

Farrah Younis, a final year BSc (Hons) Criminology student and Inspector Graham Meadows from Cleveland Police have both benefited from the scheme, professionally and personally.

Farrah, 22, from Princes Road, said: "The programme has given me first hand experience of how an organisation works. I’ve participated in a number of training workshops set up by my mentor, including Team Building, Communications, Presentation Skills and Conflict Management and enjoyed an open door, all access welcome at Cleveland Police.

"Similarly, Graham has met with me at the University, so he has become familiar with my environment."

For Inspector Meadows the scheme has been an opportunity for personal development and fulfilment. He said: "This has been a mutually beneficial arrangement. For me its been an invaluable opportunity to take stock of my own professional and personal skills and values; to assess through interaction and feed-back from Farrah how effective I am as a communicator and role model; and, to gain a closer insight into the expectations, beliefs and aspirations of a minority section of the community I serve as a police officer.

"The scheme officially ends this month but both Farrah and myself plan to maintain our association for as long as it benefits us both."

Professor Graham Henderson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor said: "The University is pleased to be involved in this Mentor Scheme. All our students deserve our fullest support and guidance in their self-development and career aspirations; when this support and guidance is complemented by the involvement of high calibre mentoring organisations it’s very much an enhanced opportunity. Teesside has made a three year commitment to the programme and I look forward to meeting the next cohorts from the scheme."

---