Mentors Matter— UW-Green Bay to Offer Mentorship Certificate

Green Bay, Wis.—Researchers have long established that employees with mentors report higher levels of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, compensation and promotion.* Entrepreneurs with mentors succeed in their startups at a higher success rate than entrepreneurs who do not have mentors.

Mentorship matters. And for companies and organizations investigating ways to be more inclusive, mentorship matters now more than ever. Mentorship is an underestimated and under-utilized capacity within today’s companies and organizations, yet creating or enhancing a formal mentorship program can make a cultural difference. Mentorships foster deep, interpersonal networking, which can play a huge role in structuring and restructuring organizations.

UW-Green Bay is working to help companies and organizations harness the power of mentorship and elevate skills with a three-week Mentoring Certificate, designed to:

• Provide professional and personal enrichment to maximize skill development, improve performance, and grow potential.
• Enhance success in any field or level.
• Improve the health of a workforce, enabling team members to react quickly to change, developing, adapting and regenerating over time.
• Promote the careers of mentors and mentees.
• Grow mentees into advanced roles within a company or organization through succession planning.

The Mentoring Certificate is open to those looking to be successful mentors within their company or organization. Classes are online and taught by executives with a passion for mentoring. UW-Green Bay is now enrolling for fall course dates: Wednesdays, September 15, 22 and 29.

UW-Green Bay has also developed a human resources training, “Implementing a Mentoring Program Certificate” to propel the development and execution of an organizational mentorship program. This training builds on the Mentoring Certificate and is designed for individuals tasked with initiating or overseeing a mentorship platform.

Classes are also online, and taught by experienced professionals fluent in all aspects of human resources development. Participants will leave with renewed enthusiasm with tools to support their employees and participants. Now enrolling for August, with classes on Tuesdays, August 10 and August 24, 2021.

Past participants say the program has moved their projects from checklist to reality.

“Since taking these training courses, creating a mentorship program went from one of those projects that kept getting put on the backburner to something that is actually happening,” said Student and Community Engagement coordinator with the Austin E. Cofrin School of Business, Kathryn Marten, who is a recently earned both certificates. “We have gotten many compliments on how well-thought out the program is. Many of the careful considerations in building the program were sparked by lessons and conversations from the mentor training.”

Both programs have been developed by UW-Green Bay’s Division of Continuing Education and Community Engagement. To learn more about the program and how it might be adapted and/or customized for your company or organization, visit the website https://www.uwgb.edu/certificate-programs/mentoring/ or contact Program Specialists Melissa Betke at 920-663-7337 or betkem@uwgb.edu or Linda Hornick at 715-504-3351 or hornickl@uwgb.edu.

About the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
Established in 1965, UW-Green Bay is a public institution serving 8,970 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students and 79,604 continuing education enrollees each year across all campus locations. We educate students from pre-college through retirement and offer 200+ degrees, programs and certificates. UW-Green Bay graduates are resilient, inclusive, sustaining and engaged members of their communities, ready to rise to fearlessly face challenges, solve problems and embrace diverse ideas and people. With four campus locations, the University welcomes students from every corner of the world. In 2020, UW-Green Bay was the fastest growing UW school in Wisconsin. For more information, visit www.uwgb.edu.

About UW-Green Bay’s Division of Continuing Education and Community Engagement
The Division of Continuing Education and Community Engagement focuses its mission on creating educational opportunity and access for all ages, encompassing K-12 student programs, personal and professional development and customized training to meet the needs of a progressive economy. The division develops, collaborates and executes responsive solutions for diverse communities statewide, all of which reflect a deep commitment to inclusion, social justice and civic responsibility. For more information, visit: www.uwgb.edu/continuing-education

* “Why Does Mentoring Work? The Role of Perceived Organizational Support.” NCBI.nlm.nih.gov. Ms. Lisa Baranik, Elizabeth A Rolling and Lillian T. Eby.

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