Mentorship
Purpose
The LGBTQ Mentoring Program connects lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, queer and questioning undergraduate students with LGBTQ-identified faculty, staff, and graduate student mentors. The program aims to be a valuable resource for support, guidance, and information for LGBTQ students. Our main goal is to connect and familiarize undergraduate students with the UCSB campus community.
Program Goals
- To cultivate supportive mentoring relationships between LGBTQ-identified students, faculty, and staff to build a greater sense of coalition and community
- To provide support for students who are exploring their sexual and gender identity
- To expose students to the diverse lives of LGBTQ members of the UCSB community
- To provide helpful resources to students as they explore issues related to identity
- To help connect LGBTQ students to the larger LGBTQ community, both at UCSB and the Santa Barbara area
If you are interested in being a part of the mentoring program apply here.
Mentors
Mentors offer support and guidance to LGBTQ students based on their lived experiences and resources available on campus. Thus, mentors will be crucial in facilitating student development outside of the classroom and other formal UCSB venues. Mentors are current UCSB faculty, staff, and graduate students.
Mentor Expectations:
Commit to the mentoring relationship and program for at least one year
Provide professional, academic, and personal guidance
Respect privacy but notify mentee of Title IX obligations
Serve as a resource to your mentee
Serve as liaison between your mentee and the RCSGD
Mentees
Mentees are LGBTQ students who are seeking personal and professional development as well as personal connections. Therefore, Mentees will proactively engage with their mentor in order to learn and foster relationships within the university. Mentees are current UCSB graduate and undergraduate students.
Mentee Expectations:
Meet with your mentor at least once per quarterCommit to the mentoring relationship and program for at least one year
Communicate your needs/concerns in as open and honest a manner as possible
Respect confidentiality
Actively engage with your mentor for professional, academic and personal guidance
Serve as liaison between your mentor and the RCSGD
Past Events
Resources
Check out our full resource guide here.
Professional Development
Career Services is here to help the students and recent graduates of the University of California identify and fulfill their career goals. They serve as a bridge between their college experience and employment or graduate school, helping them apply what they have learned. They have an abundance of resources relating to resume and cover letter writing, interviewing, and career pathfinding.
LGBTQ+ Internship and Scholarships
The RCSGD has compiled a variety of scholarships and internships that are both local and national pertaining to LGBTQIA+ identities.
Mentorship Relationship Building
Since mentoring may involve both people you know and perfect strangers, the most successful relationships happen when partners have thought through their definition of mentoring, and their own preferences and parameters for their relationships before embarking on such relationships.
“Listen actively both to what is being said and how it is being said. Ask open, supportive questions and provide constructive feedback. Help the mentoring partner solve his or her own problem, rather than giving direction. Focus on the mentoring partner’s development, and resist the urge to produce a clone.”
“Be proactive. Whether your mentor is assigned to you, or you have chosen one yourself, make the first appointment to talk about your career. Have a game plan for your conversations with your mentor.”
Local Activities & Events
An online newspaper with a listing of events in Santa Maria, Goleta, and Santa Barbara.
Local newspaper with a calendar of local events in Santa Barbara and Goleta.
Calendar of events and activities happening in Santa Barbara; the website is managed by the travel and tourism office.
Campus Events
Arts & Lectures annually presents more than a hundred events, from critically acclaimed concerts and dance performances by world-renowned artists to talks by groundbreaking authors and film series at UCSB and Santa Barbara-area venues.
The MultiCultural Center has been at the forefront of change for 27 years educating and empowering and advocating for marginalized communities. Through the medium of high-powered educational programming, the MCC has been an agent for change on campus and in the greater Santa Barbara area.
A comprehensive list of UCSB events; the website is managed by Associated Students.