Charlotte Daub started working at Wharton in 1989. And she doesn't look back at her first year fondly.

"It was horrendous," she said.

Penn's sheer size overwhelmed her. When she had questions about her career, she didn't know where to turn. When she needed advice that would help her succeed in the workplace, she didn't know whom to consult.

Needless to say, she felt frustrated.

"That first year, I floundered so much that I felt sorry for anybody new coming into the University," she said.

Now, Ms. Daub, business administrator of career development and placement, doesn't have to feel sorry for anyone. As part of Connections, a new mentoring program at Wharton, she can offer assistance to other employees--new or otherwise. Connections matches Wharton employees with more-experienced co-workers.

Mentors and mentees who volunteer for the nine-month program complete a questionnaire designed to gauge their goals and abilities. This makes matching easier.

"We request that the mentee and the mentor fill out a profile, and we pair them based on what they are looking for from the program," said Anna Loh, assistant director of human resources at Wharton. "For instance, if you are looking for someone who has a technical background, we'll pair you with someone with that kind of background. If you are ... interested in getting into fund-raising, but don't know that much about it, we'll find a mentor who has a fund-raising background who can work with you and give you the scoop, if you will, of what it's like to be a fund-raiser, and what you need to do to get those skills."

The idea for Connections came in early 1995. Although mentoring had already existed informally at Wharton, Dean Thomas P. Gerrity and other administrators decided that the school needed an official program. So they charged Ms. Loh with developing one.

Ms. Loh carefully chose nine Wharton employees from various departments. Their goal was to create a mentoring program that could benefit anyone who worked at Wharton. "I made sure that I was looking at all levels throughout the school in all departments, so they were represented equally," Ms. Loh said. "We have academic departments, research centers and administrative departments, so I tried to touch on all of them."

Under Ms. Loh's supervision, the group first met in April. "The work the committee put into this was crucial," Ms. Loh said. "They devoted a lot of time, a lot of energy, and they were very committed to making this successful."

Ms. Daub, who took part in the committee, agrees: "We worked very hard on trying to make Connections a very good, very structured program."

The group spent months doing research on mentoring. They read material on the subject and attended conferences. They discussed the components a successful mentoring program would require. They marketed Connections. And, with the help of Wharton's communication department, they created a training seminar for the mentors and mentees.

As 1995 came to a close, Connections was ready for launching. The program kicked off in December with a luncheon.

"Before the luncheon, mentors and mentees were given notice of who they had been paired with," Ms Loh said. "The luncheon was an opportunity for them to meet face-to-face. Then they were given the mission to go out and succeed."

Mentors and mentees meet at least once a month, and they keep in constant telephone contact. All conversations are held in the strictest confidence.

Only an employee with at least a year of experience at Wharton can be a mentor, but any Wharton staff member can be a mentee. Even long-time employees can profit from the experience.

"The program will certainly help new employees," Ms. Loh said, "but it can also be very beneficial for employees who have been around for quite a while who are thinking about looking in a different direction for their careers or who just want to make new contacts."

"The person I'm mentoring now actually has been here longer than I have," Ms. Daub added. "She has some very specific things that she thinks that someone else's input could help her with, even though she's been here many years."

Not only can veteran employees be mentees, so can mentors. Ms. Daub, for one, is both. "When I'm involved in my job, I know that I am very good at some things, but I know that there are other things I need to work on," she offered. "So when I went into the program, I volunteered to be a mentor and asked for mentor, because there are certain skills I need to develop."

Currently, 60 people are involved in the Connections program: 30 mentors and 30 mentees. There's also a reserve list of five mentors that continues to grow. "We'll approach people and ask them to do it," Ms. Loh said.

Five members of the original Connections committee--Ms. Loh included--serve as team leaders. Each is responsible for six mentor/mentee pairings. "Team leaders are sort of the mentors' mentors," Ms. Loh explained. "They touch base with the mentors periodically to make sure everything is going along well. They answer any questions the mentors may have, because we anticipate that the mentees will come to the mentors with questions they just aren't prepared to answer."

The Connections committee regularly surveys participants to make sure that they are pleased with the program's progress. So far, mentees and mentors alike have reacted positively.

"It certainly is a morale booster," Ms. Loh said. "We've gotten incredible feedback."

Once the program ends in August, another will begin. Ms. Loh expects even more participants next time. "We anticipate that our mentees will be able to be mentors, and so our pool of mentors will grow," she said. "And since the word is out there that the program is successful, the demand will be greater."

And when Ms. Loh says "the word is out there," she doesn't just mean at Wharton. Connections has caused quite a buzz around the University. Perhaps, in the future, other schools will adopt similar mentoring programs. That wouldn't surprise Ms. Loh at all.

"Central Human Resources talked to me a little bit about how we got the program started," she said. "It is certainly adaptable to any environment."

Return to Compass Features for March 12/19, 1996