Since 2012, the UCI Planning Mentorship Program has helped UCI planning students learn about career options by connecting with planning alumni. These alumni are a valuable source of information about planning jobs and career paths. They volunteer as mentors because they want to share their experiences with students and help them to get started in their planning careers.
The program recruits alumni to serve as mentors for MURP students during their first year of school. These students have three options for participation: remote one-on-one mentoring with alumni outside Orange County, local one-on-one mentoring, and small team mentoring. Teams are designed so that participants at different stages in their planning careers can learn from each other while also learning from the lead mentor.
Soon after school starts, a matching event gives students and mentors the opportunity to meet each other before being placed into pairs and groups. Students indicate their preferred mentors, and the mentorship committee uses these preferences along with information from intake forms to make the best possible matches.
Once the matches are made, it is up to the program participants to arrange their own meetings. A minimum of three meetings is expected, whether in-person, by video chat, or on the phone. To help keep the momentum going, the program offers at least one additional event during the session, which runs from October to May.
The mentorship program is managed by the UCI Planning Alumni (UPA) with support from the MURP program and the Urban Planning Student Association.
Questions or comments? Email UPA.
