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{ C O N T E N T S } Volume 9, Issue 1 Call for Leadership Nominations URLs in Grant Proposals Announcing MentorNet
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THE STUDENTCOUNCIL NEWSLETTER Copyright
© 2006 International Society for Computational Biology. |
In ISCB’s ongoing effort to reach out to the needs of our student and junior members, the Board of Directors recently approved funds to join MentorNet’s Affiliated Partners Plus program. No further enrollment fees are required of individual ISCB members, and all can enroll as protégés or mentors immediately to begin online one-on-one mentoring relationships. MentorNet, founded in 1997 and headquartered in San Jose, CA, USA, is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that links students and professionals in scientific and technical fields. The organization aims to advance individuals and society and enhance engineering and related sciences by promoting a diversified, expanded, and talented global workforce. Through collaborative partnerships with colleges and universities, corporations, government labs and agencies, and professional societies, MentorNet is international in scope, serving students and professionals from all over the world. MentorNet programs have reached more than 15,000 students and a like number of professionals since 1998. “Partnerships with organizations like ISCB enable our online mentoring network to expand its reach and impact, and benefit from the complementary core competencies of each of our organizations,” said Carol Muller, MentorNet’s founder and chief executive officer. The research-based, award-winning programs of MentorNet leverage technology to create and sustain mentoring relationships instrumental in completing academic preparation and initiating early professional development for those in fields where the numbers of women and people of color are still small. The program relies on patent pending technology-based systems, involving email and the Internet to support one-on-one mentoring relationships for thousands of students in engineering and science. MentorNet was recognized in 2001 with the (U.S.) Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring. Major funding has been provided by the National Science Foundation, Alcoa Foundation, IBM Corporation, Cisco Systems, Google, Hewlett-Packard Company, Symantec Corporation, and Texas Instruments. Although the inspiration for MentorNet was based on reaching women and underrepresented minorities, MentorNet’s programs are suited and available to all undergraduate and graduate students, postdocs and early career faculty at universities across the globe. The program matches protégé students/postdocs with professionals in industry, government and higher education as their mentors. This work, conducted since 1998, has proven that productive mentoring can occur through email, and it serves as a leading model of best practices for mentoring. When presented with the opportunity to join the MentorNet Community as a Professional Society Affiliated Partner, the ISCB Education Committee overwhelmingly supported making this e-mentoring program available to all ISCB Student/Trainee members. Committee Chair Kevin Karplus presented a motion to the ISCB Board of Directors in February, which passed unanimously. “With the formation of an ISCB Student Council a couple years ago, including a Student Council Representative elected to the Board of Directors, and now a specific e-mentoring program available to all student and postdoc members, I think ISCB is finally making significant strides in support of our student community,” stated Phil Bourne, ISCB Past President and early supporter of the Student Council. The most effective protégé experience for ISCB Student/Trainee members is partially dependent on ISCB professional members enrolling as mentors of the program as well. MentorNet allows for society specific matches based on the availability of mentors, and therefore, all members of ISCB are encouraged to enroll, students/trainees and professionals alike. Enrollment is quick and easy, by first joining
the MentorNet Community and then creating a protégé
or mentor profile for the one-on-one mentoring programs. See www.mentornet.org
for full information on this exciting organization and it’s
many successes, or go straight to www.MentorNet.net/join
to immediately join the MentorNet Community and create your personal
profile today.
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