West Virginia University's Career Services Center and Alumni Association established a new mentoring program for WVU students.
Officials hope to have the new program implemented by fall 2010, said David Durham, director of the CSC.
The Alumni Association is already recruiting alumni to become mentors, promoting it through its online newsletter and with Facebook and blogs.
The initial goal is to get between 400 and 500 alumni mentors.
The concept was created when the Alumni Association sent out an alumni attitude survey, which returned showing a significant amount of alumni want to help active students.
"It is important for alumni to stay engaged, and this is a great way for them to do so," said Tara Curtis, assistant director of Alumni Communications.
This program will be part of MountaineerTRAK, a Web-based recruiting management system that connects users to CSC services.
Alumni can sign up to become a mentor on the CSC Web site.
"I want to stress the importance of customization of the mentorship," Curtis said.
Curtis stressed the importance of customizing the mentorship, with each mentor selecting how many students they would like to assist and choosing the way students should contact them, whether through e-mail, on the phone or with one-on-one appointments.
Students can go onto the Web site and search for mentors in their same major or even by location so that students can find mentors close to them.
This will give students resources to help them find internships or jobs and will give them advice from alumni who have experience in their chosen fields.
Alumni can also search for fellow alumni to mentor them if they are looking for new jobs or thinking of career changes.
Both organizations hope the program will aid former and current students as they follow their career paths.
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