Update for WomenNC Mentors

First blog post. 

I (Anise) agreed to provide weekly updates to everyone about the ins-and-outs of the CSW committee, so here goes. 

Jenny, Jeff, and I wanted to make it clear that a research paper and public speaking opportunities are the specific outcomes of the WomenNC CSW fellowship, but there is way more that goes into fellowship itself.  After taking to the mentors, fellows, and each other, we decided to create this blog where we can share ideas and resources to help mentors throughout the fellowship. 

We all know that your average college student can hammer out a 15 page paper in a weekend (or worse, during an all-nighter), but the WomenNC fellowship is SO much more than that. 

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We sat down and talked about a few things that we wanted mentors and fellows to get from one another, so let me share some of those. 

1. Education-- Let's give students the opportunity to read articles that they may not have access to currently. Let's have them send us articles that they are reading so that they can review the, but let's also do some reading ourselves and send some interesting articles or reports their way as well. One suggestion is to have them send you a sentence or two back or chat over the phone about their thoughts or how they plan to implement the article into their research. Try to share/receive an article with/from your fellow at least every other week. You can share feedback or articles on this blog!

2. Community-- We want students to be invested in the NC and Research Triangle communities, even if it's only for 4 years. This means that we want to really support their work with a local organization. Please make sure that they take pictures that they can include in their presentations. Please help them find organizations they can work with and familiarize yourself with the organization they choose. 

3. WomenNC family--  Because we want fellows to continue to be involved in WomenNC after their fellowships are complete, we encourage everyone to keep in touch. Get in touch with other fellows if you have a chance. Let's build a family where we are all working together to support NC women and girls! Please have two-way communication with your fellow once weekly (email, phone, whatever). 

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As for how to do some actual mentorship, Jeff, Jenny, and I will be in touch with you all on a weekly basis. We want everyone to stay in the loop and be on the same page. 

To start off, many of you will need to help your fellows narrow down their topics drastically. I spoke with a lot of them and it sounds like they all need help picking a topic that will work. 15 pages is not very long-- if you  need advice working with them to do this, please be in touch. I'm sure Jeff has A LOT of advice with regard to academic papers. 

The final draft topic is due SOON-- Nov 24. Please reach out to us if you want a second pair of eyes. Make sure that they fellows are thinking of what an outline would look like and how they would incorporate their "case study" working with a local org. 

Remember, the next workshop is the evening of December 4th. More details to follow. 

Keep us posted on your progress and thanks for chatting today!

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Aciton Items from CSW Committee Meeting 11/18

Jeff - Prepare budget and plan 2nd and 3rd workshops

Anise-  To be PR committee liaison/provide weekly committee updates

Jenny - Liaison to work with events committee for Feb 20 event

Anise - Find presenters for Dec and Jan workshops

Jenny & Anise - To plan cultural activity in NYC

Anise, Jeff, Jenny - To check-in with fellows/mentors on weekly basis

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