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Organizational Structure

Execution and Ownership:
The “Nuts and Bolts” of Program Implementation

Mentors9

Central Tenants of the Program’s Design:

• All major stakeholder individuals and offices must be included in all of its proceedings and have a say in its major decisions.

• No excessive managerial burden should be placed on any of the Simon departments participating in the program (rather, it should be executed by students).

• There must be a significant permanent staff role in the program for the purposes of oversight and continuity (preventing a program collapse resulting from high student turnover, as was the case with a previous attempt at a mentorship program at Simon). This oversight will act as a store of accumulated institutional information and best practices.

• The permanent staff presence in the program will come from multiple departments, such that the turnover of one or even two members of the staff involved does not result in the program’s destruction (as was the case with several failed attempts at mentorship programs at other business schools).
Program Oversight and Execution:
The Simon Alumni Mentorship Program will be delivered by 3 major parties, one consisting of students and two consisting of permanent Simon staff. The student component is the Simon Mentorship Committee. It will consist of 6 students, 3 senior and 3 junior, and operate on terms similar to those of the VISION Committee. Students on the Simon Mentorship Committee will be responsible for:
• Promotion of the program, including an orientation presentation and the development/oversight of a Simon Exchange website/blog to promote success stories.
• Collecting and maintaining the lists of interested participants, both student and mentors
• Distributing and collecting the Mentorship Contract, assuring that students sign it
• Coordinating with Patrick Miller to establish and maintain the matching system through Simon Exchange, acting as a liaison with the CMC and AR&D to arrange special matches
• Overseeing recourse proceedings should a student abuse the mentor program, interfacing with team coaches and students’ career advisors as necessary
• Executing any functions or receptions occurring as part of the program to facilitate in-person connections between mentors and students
• Administering feedback surveys to mentors and students at the end of each period, and assuring a means of meaningful action based on the results.

The first staff group is the Logistic and Executive Oversight wing, which is responsible for direct oversight of the Simon Alumni Mentorship Committee in its execution of program activities. It will have at least one representative present at each student meeting (which will occur at least once every two weeks). Simon organizations included in this wing are The Center for Leadership Development (represented by Professor Dan Struble), Student Services (represented by Director, Laura Gavigan), and the Alumni Council (represented by Dean Holli Budd). As stated above, it will act as a store of best practices and assist in committee transitions.
The second staff group is the Development and Quality Assurance wing, which includes Alumni Relations and Development (represented by Executive Director, Jennifer Patterson) and the Career Management Center (represented by Executive Director, Patricia Phillips).This wing’s primary responsibilities include recruitment of current and new alumni to the mentorship program, and assuring that mentors’ expectations are met. Because these two departments are often the first two to hear positive or negative feedback from alumni, their representatives will share this with the committee so as to preserve Simon’s relationship with its alumni and business community mentors.