NIH-HHS Mentoring Program

NIH is excited to offer the HHS Mentoring Program in 2009 as a tool for federal FTE’s to develop their knowledge, skills and abilities.

Key Program Features

• Peer-to-peer and senior-to-junior mentoring opportunities to accommodate all GS-levels
• Online search-and-match system to connect individuals
• Mandatory mentor-mentee orientation (unless there is proof of participation in another mentoring program orientation within the past year)
• One-year relationship commitment
• HHS and NIH Program events and resources to facilitate dialogue and growth

Individuals can participate as both mentors and mentees, and can choose senior-to-junior or peer-to-peer mentoring relationships. Mentors can expect the 20-hour annual mentor time commitment to be very manageable, with opportunities for both mentors and mentees to be more involved in the program’s educational activities. Events and online training will be posted on the LMS.

Recruitment

We are actively seeking mentors in January, in order to enlist a wide range of mentors in the HHS online matching system from which potential mentees can later choose. We will open up the website enrollment feature to mentees at the end of January.

We encourage you to discuss with your supervisor the possibility of participation in the 2009 program has mentors or mentees.

Registration and Mentor-Matching

Register and find a match online at the central HHS program site, https://mentoring.hhs.gov.

When an employee registers to be a mentee, his/her supervisor automatically receives a notification e-mail from the system. Mentees can search for mentors by competency-framed strengths, geographical location/OPDIV, and professional goals/career path, and initiate contact with up to 3 potential mentors at a time to discuss the potential of matching. Upon receiving an e-mail to discuss the possibility of a mentoring relationship, a prospective mentor can choose to communicate with or immediately decline the mentee. When a match is deemed possible after verbal discussion and agreement, the mentee records the relationship confirmed with the mentor via the online system. More information on this process is found within the central HHS Mentoring Program site, https://mentoring.hhs.gov/app/start.aspx.

Key dates:

January 2009

• Mentor Registration Assistance Clinic (Drop in during your lunch time if you need extra help enrolling; should take 5 minutes): January 12, 2009. 12-1 p.m., EPS-100, Classroom 6 (front of EPS-100 behind guard station).
• Mentor Registration Assistance Clinic (Drop in during your lunch time if you need extra help enrolling; should take 5 minutes): January 14, 2009, 12-2 p.m., EPS Classroom 4 (lower level near cafeteria).
• NIH-HHS Mentoring Program information session: January 14, 2009 from 9-10 a.m. in Building 45, Balcony A.
• HHS Kickoff Celebration of National Mentoring Month, with keynote speaker, Olympic medal-winning gymnast Dominique Dawes: January 29, 2009 from 11-1 p.m. at the Hubert Humphrey building, Washington, DC. For more information: https://mentoring.hhs.gov/UpcomingEvents.aspx.
• End of January: Mentees can enroll and begin the Online Matching and Selection Process (stay tuned for notification).

February 2009

• Mandatory NIH-HHS Orientation for Mentors/Mentees (available in classroom or online format)
  • Special NIH Orientation class sessions: February 24 from 9-12pm or February 25, 1-4pm in Building 45, Balcony A

August/September 2009

• 6-month Program Evaluation

February 2010

• 1-year Program Graduation

As a tool in employee development, the HHS Mentoring Program does not supplant the scientific mentoring and customized IC mentoring programs that are available to employees in several NIH Institutes and Centers. Instead, it fills a need where it exists and enables NIH-wide or even HHS-wide relationships.

For more information

• For program FAQs, information and to enroll as a mentor, please go to the central HHS Mentoring Program registration and information site at https://mentoring.hhs.gov.
  
  For technical support with online registration, write HHS site support directly at hhsmentoring@hhs.gov.
• Additional inquiries not addressed via online content or information sessions can be sent to your NIH Program Coordinator at the NIH-HHS Mentoring Program mailbox, nihhhsmentoringprog@mail.nih.gov, or in the global address book as “NIH-HHS Mentoring Program.”