Be sure to check out the Spring 2011 edition of Mentoring Matters, the newsletter of the Journalism Education Association Mentoring Program.

Mentoring Matters has been published twice a year, beginning in the Fall of 2008, and serves as both an overview to the program and as a snapshot of the program from semester to semester.

The lead story in this issue is about funding for the program. The three major expenses for the program are: training program for new mentors, Mentor Forums held at each JEA/NSPA convention to provide training for all mentors, and the annual stipends that mentors receive.

The training is funded by JEA. The Mentor Forums are paid for by Yellow Chair Foundation. The mentor stipends are funded through a number of sources, with the majority of the funding coming from state-level support, such as state scholastic press associations, the NAA Foundation, and state media associations. The story provides a profile on some of those funders, including the McCormick Foundation.

JEA Mentoring Committee co-chair Linda Barrington analyzed the data provided by the mentors in their monthly mentor reports and wrote a story about the major issues that mentors say mentees are asking for their help with. The top three areas of concern for mentees are:

  1. Publication staff issues
  2. Curriculum development
  3. Identifying resources

The ares that mentees are requesting assistance reflect that they need the journalism/advising-specific help that the JEA mentoring program is designed to provide.

You can read the newsletter online or download the newsletter as a PDF file.

All of the newsletters are posted on the blog. Click on the Newsletters tab at the top of the blog.

Please email the newsletter to mentees and school administrators involved in the program, to potential mentees, and to potential funders.