Dear alumni and professional allies,

Due to the isolation caused by the pandemic, human connection is more important than ever. Our students are eager to learn about what it’s like to be involved in designing the built environment. Could you help them by connecting to students this fall? We hope that the small commitment of 3 to 4 meetings over 10 weeks can open up the opportunity to form ongoing relationships.

Mentoring Circles Participants will come together virtually to meet each other in small, informal groups. Each group will be led by a professional (or two) who guides up to six mentees in a conversation about a topic of common interest. Mentors could attend an initial prep meeting and then we would start with a virtual kick-off event in October. After that initial meeting, the small groups will meet at least two more times for about an hour (once in November and once in December), facilitated by the leading professional(s) and a student volunteer. The topics for each subsequent meeting can vary according to the interests and needs of the participants.

The intentions of this initiative are:

To connect those at different stages of professional development
To provide encouragement and mutual support
To develop mentees' networking skills and professional contacts
To create a setting in which professionals can gain fresh perspectives while sharing expertise
To create more opportunities for professionals to recruit future staff

Prep Meeting (optional)
Thursday, October 1, 2020
5:30 pm Pacific Daylight Time

Mentoring Circles Kickoff Event:
Thursday, October 8, 2020
5:30 pm Pacific Daylight Time

If you fill out this form, it will help us to match mentees with professionals.
SIGN ME UP: https://oregon.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6s5YGw9WiHa3oc5

Thanks for your consideration,

Nancy Cheng
Architecture Department Head and Associate Professor
nywc@uoregon.edu

Kyuho Ahn
Department Head, Interior Architecture and Associate Professor
kahn@uoregon.edu

Cindy Lundeen
Manager of Professional Outreach, College of Design

Serena Lim
Designer, Rowell Brokaw Architects

School of Architecture + Environment
College of Design
1206 University of Oregon
Eugene OR 97403-1206 USA