Staff Mentorship Program kicks off second year
The university's popular Staff Mentorship Program began its second year last month, with 25 percent more participants than the program had in 2007.
The UST Staff Mentorship Program began as a pilot program last year. A voluntary program that pairs experienced staff with less experienced staff in a mentoring relationship, it helps staff to cultivate contacts, explore challenges and enhance effectiveness as they design their personal growth and career paths at St. Thomas. The program also provides the opportunity to gather information, develop peer support, learn more about management and better understand the university's institutional culture.
At the program's 2008 kickoff celebration Aug. 6, Father Dennis Dease, St. Thomas' president, remarked, "An institution's culture is an institution's soul … passed along by experienced mentoring. … A good mentor is worth his or her weight in gold." He also recalled lessons learned from his own mentors, including St. Thomas trustee John Morrison, who taught him "it's always important to have a backup plan"; Father John Malone, vice president for mission, who showed him "a model of priesthood" can, at the same time, be "irreverent, impertinent and always hilarious"; and the late Monsignor Terrence Murphy, Dease's predecessor, who told him, "Stay with it, the path will reveal itself."
Malone also spoke at the event, explaining the origin in Greek mythology of the word "mentor" and the etymology of the word, "mission," from the Latin missum, meaning "to be sent." "We are institutionally and individually here because we were sent," Malone told mentors and mentees. He also reminded them, "The best things you have are the things you have received, not the things you have achieved."
Congratulations were offered to the 37 mentors and 38 mentees who are participating in the program this year:
Mentors
Mentees
Aaron Macke
Stacy Bacon
Bill Woodson
Barbara Baker
Pat Sirek
Cassie Bean
Mike Barrett
Janet Becker
David Hottinger
Colleen Casey-Simonson
Chris Gregg
Michael Cole
Jennifer Wake
Christy Dammen
Nate Rolloff
Brooke Dierkhising
Karen Lange
Laurie Dimond
Rachel Wobschall
Angela Dzik and Kristi Flanagan-Villar
Debbie Battis
Rebecca Falkum
Karen Harthorn
Shaun Faricy
Jerry Anderley
Tim Fischer
Liz Johnson
Annie Hanebuth
Barbara Clausen
Mary Harnan
Laurie Dimond
Angela Harousis
Jen Hladik
Julie Jepma
Peter Breuch
Marti King
Sam Levy
Chad Kluck
Jen O'Brien
Julie Anne Larkin
Nora Fitzpatrick
Betsy Lofgren
Georgia Fisher
Marlin Meendering
Nancy Zingale
Shelley Meyer
Doug Hennes
Steph Monogue
Phil Hoeppner
Marie Morzenti
Don Beyers
Beth Murphy
Richelle Wesley
Nichole Pazdernik
Ed Erickson
Julie Quello
Linda Halverson
Arlene Robinson
Carol Wilkie
Nancy Shoen
Debbie Shelito
Megan Smith
Tara Brokowski
Jamie Stripe
Edna Comedy
Vincent Thomas
Joanne Herber
Paige Von Bank
Mark Dienhart
Bill Woodson
LuAnn Hudson
Margaret Zawasky
Helen Hunter
Gina Zitzer
The Staff Mentorship Program is a collaborative effort of the Human Resources Department and the Office of Institutional Diversity.
For more information, visit the Staff Mentorship Program Web page, e-mail the program or call Gina Zitzer, (651) 962-26901.
