The Faculty's Tri-Mentoring program creates networking opportunities through "clusters" or "triads." Clusters/triads consist of a junior student (first or second year), a senior student (third/fourth year or graduate student) in the same program, and an industry-related professional.

Since 2001, the Tri-Mentoring process has provided three-fold mutual benefits to mentors and students at the Faculty of Land and Food Systems:

• Junior students learn from and engage with both a senior student and a working professional in their field;
• Senior students gain valuable training and management skills through mentoring newer students while benefiting from the advice of a working professional;
• Working professionals have the opportunity to directly shape the future of their field by mentoring potential professionals.

The program runs each year from September to April.

• About the Program
• Deadlines and Program Schedule
• Testimonials
• Links and Resources

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 About the Program

The primary objective of this program is to help students develop their skills in career self-management, including realistic goal-setting and action planning, as well as providing links to their future job market. Please note this is not a job-finding club. 

All undergraduate students from the Faculty of Land and Food Systems are invited to participate. Working professionals with a background related to the Faculty disciplines are also invited to participate. The program requires a small time commitment from mentors (10-15 hours in total).

What Participants can Expect:

• Both mentors and mentees will attend a kick-off dinner in October. Students will have additional commitments outlined in the Deadlines/Program Schedule section.
• Face-to-face communication with your cluster at least three times over the academic year.
• Adherence to the Mentoring Agreement and Code of Conduct as outlined below in the Applications & Forms section.

What Students will Gain:

• Learn more about your field and potential career options;
• Confirm or re-evaluate ideas about your career goals;
• Develop your studies around your career path;
• Network and connect with professionals in your field.
• Resource: Tri-Mentoring Student Handbook (pdf).

What Mentors will Gain:

• Opportunities to inspire future colleagues and to thereby influence the future of your field;
• Meet students for volunteer projects and assignments;
• Chances to enhance your coaching skills;
• Opportunities to expand your job pool;
• Mentoring resources: What is a Mentor? (pdf) and Suggestions for Mentors (pdf) and Tri-Mentoring Mentor Handbook (pdf).

Applications and Forms:

• Student Application for returning students
• Student Application for first-time applicants
• Mentor Application Form (pdf)
• Mentoring Agreement and Code of Conduct (pdf)
• Student Learning Objectives and Reflection assignment (doc)
• Student's Midway Update Form (pdf)
  

Email your completed documents to lfs.trimentoring@ubc.ca.

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2011-2012 Deadlines and Program Schedule

The following is a suggested timeline. Participants will be advised of their final schedule.

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Testimonials

 What Mentors Said:

“The Tri-Mentoring program was a great experience for me. The students were very flexible and attentive. In fact, I hired two students for summer positions at my company.”

“A framework or guideline with some goals or objectives that are reasonable to attain in a few visits with students will help mentors feel like they have contributed to a students development.”

What Mentees Said:

“My mentor steered me towards various talks and online publications that she felt would be of interest to me and taught me how to better network, as well as introduce me to people who might be of use to me in my career."

“My participation in the Tri-Mentoring program has also led to work experience in my field of interest. This position has been a great way for me to experience first-hand what it is like to be a food scientist working in an industry setting.”

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Links and Resources

• Tri-Mentoring Annual Report 2007
• Mentoring Program, UBC Career Services
• Mentoring Canada
• Mentor Bios: Faculty of Land and Food Systems