DO-IT Mentors Application

file type icon Mentor_Application.pdf

Shape the future... be a DO-IT Mentor.

The DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology) electronic mentoring community provides an opportunity for students with disabilities to communicate via email and during program activities with Mentors and other students with disabilities. Your role as a DO-IT Mentor is a mix of friend and teacher. Your goal is to inspire and facilitate personal, academic, and career achievements in the DO-IT participants for whom you mentor. These mentees are college- capable students with disabilities pursuing challenging academic and career fields.

Do you have what it takes to be a DO-IT Mentor?

The relationships you develop with your mentee become channels for the passage of information, advice, challenges, opportunities, and support. DO-IT Mentors offer mentees these opportunities:
 
  • Information
    Mentors share their knowledge, experiences, and wisdom.
  • Contacts
    Mentors provide valuable opportunities by facilitating academic, career, and personal contacts.
  • Challenges
    Mentors stimulate curiosity and build confidence by presenting new ideas, opportunities, and challenges.
  • Support
    Mentors encourage growth and achievement by providing an open and supportive environment.
  • Goal Setting
    Mentors help mentees discover talents and interests and define and attain their goals.
  • Advice
    Mentors guide mentees in reaching academic, career, and personal goals.
  • Role Models
    By sharing stories of achievement with mentees, mentors can become role models.

How do DO-IT Mentors and mentees communicate?

Mentors and mentees are not matched one-to-one but rather communicate through the use of large group email-based discussion lists. Frequent email communication combined with personal contact at DO-IT sponsored events, facilitates personal, academic, and career achievement.

DO-IT Mentors are subscribed to several electronic discussion lists:

  • doitsem - A public forum to discuss STEM issues pertaining to individuals with disabilities.
  • doitchat - A forum where DO-IT mentees and mentors interact.
  • mentors - A discussion list for mentors.
  • AccessSTEM - A forum where mentors with academic and/or professional backgrounds in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields engage with mentees who are studying, teaching, and working in STEM.
  • disability-specific lists - Where mentors and mentees each participate in special interest groups to discuss issues related to a specific disability area.

For more information about DO-IT’s mentoring community, consult Opening Doors: Mentoring on the Internet.

Eligibility

College students, postsecondary faculty, and professionals from a variety of challenging academic and career fields are encouraged to apply.

How to Apply

Submit the DO-IT Mentor Application online, or submit the form by postal mail, fax, or email. Because safety is of particular concern for young people using the Internet, all Mentor candidates are asked to complete and return a Criminal Conviction & Civil Finding History Questionnaire. Once we receive your completed application, we will follow-up via email on the next steps for the background check and signing the AV release digitally.

About DO-IT

DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology) serves to increase the successful participation of individuals with disabilities in challenging academic programs and careers. Primary funding for DO-IT is provided by the National Science Foundation, the State of Washington, and the U.S. Department of Education. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant #HRD-0227995 and #HRD-0833504. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.


DO-IT
University of Washington
Box 354842
Seattle, WA 98195-4842
doit@uw.edu
www.uw.edu/doit/
206-685-DOIT (3648) (voice/TTY)
888-972-DOIT (3648) (toll free voice/TTY)
206-221-4171 (FAX)
509-328-9331 (voice/TTY, Spokane)
Founder and Director: Sheryl Burgstahler, Ph.D.
Copyright © 2020, University of Washington. Permission is granted to copy these materials for
educational, noncommercial purposes provided the source is acknowledged.