FAQs

Mentees: Riccio College of Engineering undergraduate students in their sophomore year or above.

Mentors: All Riccio College of Engineering alumni, at any career stage and across any engineering discipline.

The Enginuity Network is student-initiated. After completing a profile, students browse alumni mentor profiles and filter by discipline, industry, career path, and other criteria. When a student finds a mentor whose experience aligns with their interests, they send a connection request with a personalized message. The mentor then decides whether to accept. There is no algorithmic matching; students choose their own mentors based on their goals.

Students cannot view the profiles of other students, and mentors cannot browse student profiles. Once a student submits a connection request, that individual mentor will be able to view the student’s profile to determine if the mentoring connection is a good fit.

Being a mentee means showing up, staying engaged, and taking initiative. A successful mentorship takes a small time commitment; we recommend meeting at least three times during the semester. The more you put into the relationship, the more you will gain in return.

Mentors are alumni from the College of Engineering.

Mentees are expected to: Fully commit to the duration of the mentorship; Curate the connection; Establish expectations for your mentorship, set clear goals, and ask for feedback; Consistently communicate; Prepare discussion topics prior to each meeting; Take initiative to schedule sessions; Maintain a sense of professionalism in your outreach; Respect their time; Notify your mentor if you need to cancel or reschedule a meeting; Express appreciation for their help and guidance.

The first step is to discuss the challenges with your mentor. If you are still having trouble or need support on how to have those conversations, contact the program manager at adandreadis@umass.edu for additional guidance.

Check with your mentor to confirm that they want to continue the relationship and have the time to continue investing in the relationship.

All College of Engineering alumni are eligible to serve as mentors in the Enginuity Network Mentorship Program. Whether you are one year out of college, at the peak of your career, retired, or anywhere in between, you have valuable experience and knowledge to offer our students.

It may take some time before you receive a student request, since this is a student driven program. Mentees are able to search for mentors in our database using select search criteria.

It is important to make sure your profile is complete and compelling, including profile pictures and a robust professional summary.

To decline a student’s mentor request, select the button just below the mentee’s headshot on your home page that says “Decline.” You can send the student a message if you would like or simply press decline. The student will be alerted via email that their request was unsuccessful, and they are encouraged to search for and request another mentor.

Be sure to check your spam folder for any potential lost messages. If the problem persists, we encourage you to message your mentee to discuss whether they have over-committed and if it’s in the best interest of both parties to release from the mentoring relationship. If you do not hear back from the student, you can login to the platform and release from the mentoring relationship.

You may also contact the program manager at adandreadis@umass.edu for additional assistance in contacting your mentee.