University
Experts Share Mentoring Skills with Partners of Judges (cont)
Judith Fountain facilitated large and small group discussions related to the components of mentoring. She offered guidelines to accomplish the mentor’s basic goal: help the mentee deal with issues in a non-emotional way. Rather than responding immediately, she suggested a mentor 1) stop; 2) step back; 3) detach; and 4) analyze. To clarify that the mentor understands the mentee’s issue, she suggested the following questions be asked:
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Do I have enough information from the mentee to identify and understand the issue?
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Do I understand how the issue relates to judicial family life?
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Have I detached myself emotionally while analyzing the issue?
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Which facts will be helpful to the mentee
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Have I provided the mentee with resources that are appropriate to the issue?
At the conclusion of the mentor training and based on the experience, the mentors developed the following documents and program plan:
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“Mentor Attitudes, Attributes and Skills” and “Mentor Qualities” were written.
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The mentees will be assigned to mentors based on an “arranged marriage” model (assigned by third person who matches mentee and mentor based on specific criteria) versus a “dating” model (mentee selects mentor after spending time with all those available to mentor) due to the short timeframe available in which to make the match.
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The “official” mentoring period will be twelve months with the knowledge, that for some, a friendship may follow.
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If, at any time, a mentee is not comfortable with his/her assigned mentor, the Supreme Court program staff member will reassign the mentee. Each mentor/mentee team will do an evaluation after six months.
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The OJFN Steering Committee chair, the mentor and the Supreme Court program staff member will write to each spouse of a new judge upon the judge’s election or appointment to the bench and welcome her/him to the judicial family.
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The mentor will contact the mentee no less than quarterly.
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The Supreme Court staff member will provide a quarterly informational piece (e.g., article, newsletter) to the mentors to be forwarded to the mentees
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There will be a minimum of two educational programs for judicial spouses focusing on judicial family life issues.
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There will be a Mentor Program evaluation completed after nine months, and the data will be used to revise the program for the following year