Wharton bolsters undergrad advising with new alumni mentoring program

The Wharton Undergraduate Division is in the process of adding another spoke to its current three-pronged advising system. By mid-November, officials hope to implement an undergraduate-alumni mentoring program to complement its existing system of professional and faculty advisors and Management 100 "team advisors," according to Wharton Associate Director for Student Affairs Belinda Huang. Modeled on the Wharton Graduate Division's GUIDE program -- which links second-year MBAs with first-years and Wharton undergraduates -- the program seeks to unite Wharton undergradswith recent alumni from their own division. A screening survey asks potential mentors and mentees to list their career interests, hobbies, activities and any special considerations, such as a particular cultural background. Program coordinators hope to complete the matchmaking process by November 17. Wharton solicited potential mentors in August among recent graduates in New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and New Jersey. So far, the Wharton Undergraduate Division has received a "good response -- about 180 alumni mentors," Huang said. Selected mentors will be matched with Wharton juniors and seniors who return surveys by tomorrow. At last count, 30 undergraduate forms were returned to Huang's office, although more are being collected in the alumni affairs office in Vance Hall. Administrators are confident there will be strong student response to the program. "There's always been an interest in alumni mentoring from [undergraduate] students who participate in [GUIDE's] MBA program," Huang said. Huang said administrators "very much want student input" in designing the program. The current plan, for example, does not include freshmen and sophomores, who will continue to pair up with TAs and MBAs, respectively. "We thought sophomores might be more undecided and need direct assistance," Huang said. For juniors and seniors, the program will mean that much-needed career advice is just a phone call away, she added. "Ideally, it will be a close relationship; students will discuss career moves and companies,"said Undergraduate Alumni Relations Council Chairperson Kyle Duarte, a Wharton senior. "The program's chief benefit is exposure," he added. "Wharton undergrads can tap into the alumni network and don't have to wait until after they graduate." Duarte will meet with Huang Monday to begin setting guidelines for the program. The council will probably be involved with "implementation" and "gauging student support," he said, adding that the success of the program would depend largely upon how involved students are in the new format. "It takes effort on both sides," Duarte said. "People have to be committed."