Become an Alumni Mentor

You can make an impact on a student's life by becoming a mentor. Mentors serve as guides to students, answering questions, giving advice, and helping them to learn more about their field of interest and about themselves.

Am I Eligible?

All alumni of the Eberly College of Science are eligible to mentor a science student.

How Does It Work?

Students and alumni register year-round and are matched accordingly. Your mentoring partnership may continue throughout the student's remaining undergraduate years, although we hope that the connection will extend beyond the formal program!

Quality matches are at the heart of successful mentorships and matches are based on major, career fields, experience-level, geography, and shared interests. With hundreds of alumni and students interested in participating, registration is required.

The Mentoring Program is housed in LionLink. All applications are approved by Eberly’s Alumni Relations Office.

Please register online to become a mentor.

After approving your application, we will do our best to match you with a student whose interests closely align with your professional experience. Please note that it may not be possible to match you immediately. All profiles will remain active in the database and connected to the larger LionLink community.

Once matched, you and your mentee will receive an introductory email in LionLink and should then work collaboratively to define the scope of the mentorship and your goals.

What Can I Expect As A Mentor?

Mentorships vary. Some students are highly self-aware and clearly identify the areas with which they need assistance. Others are less well-developed and may need help identifying their skills and applying their experiences and interests to post-college planning. Others may just want help practicing for interviews. Most students are initially quite intimidated at interacting with their mentor and tend to forget that you were once in their shoes. Their focus varies, their plans change, many are incredibly busy, and like the rest of us, sometimes crises arise.

Strong mentors are intentional about their mentoring role and sensitive and flexible to their mentee’s needs.

Regular communication will help you and your mentee get the most out of the program. You can communicate with one another via e-mail, phone, videochat, and visits to your workplace, if you so choose. This is not a job placement program. You are not expected to offer employment or internships to the student you are mentoring.

If you have questions, please contact Kelly Praskovich at kjp137@psu.edu or 814-865-6629.