May 2003 News Release

For Release: May 1, 2003

Contact: Carol Muller
Founder and CEO, MentorNet
408/924-4070
cbmuller@mentornet.net

AWARD-WINNING E-MENTORING PROGRAM OFFERS PARTICIPATION TO MORE CAMPUSES

Deadline to enroll at a discount ends June 15

(San Jose, CA) - MentorNet is extending invitations to participate in its award-winning e-mentoring program during 2003-04 to an unprecedented number of universities and colleges. Colleges and universities which join by June 15 are eligible for a 15% reduction in the annual fee which allows their students to participate.

The nonprofit MentorNet addresses the retention and success of women in engineering and science through pairing thousands of undergraduate and graduate students with professionals working in industry and government for one-on-one, email-based, structured mentoring relationships. Since 1998, MentorNet has matched nearly 20,000 students and industry professionals with strong results. The program has proven effective by providing “real world” information, encouragement, advice, and access to networks that are otherwise often unavailable to women students in these male-dominated fields.

"During the past five years, MentorNet has built, tested, and refined a technology-based infrastructure which can handle scale successfully and quickly. Now we are ready to make our services available to a much larger number of campuses and thereby many more women students in engineering and science," said Carol B. Muller, founder and CEO of MentorNet.

Colleges and universities who have already offered the MentorNet program to their students – among them some of the world’s top academic institutions – have found that participation in MentorNet offers a number of benefits:

• MentorNet is an easy-to-administer, affordable strategy to further institutional goals. Participation requires very little time commitment on the part of university faculty or staff and doesn’t carry the costs of an in-house effort.
• Campuses can instantly tap into a vast network of mentors in diverse industries and professional fields.
• The program can keep alumni/ae involved by mentoring current students at their alma mater.
• Participation in MentorNet expands existing campus offering for pre-professional development and internship and job opportunities.
• Participation tangibly demonstrates the institution's commitment to supporting women during their academic years.

To obtain further information, and/or to register your institution for MentorNet participation for the upcoming academic year, link to www.MentorNet.net/campuses.

ABOUT MENTORNET: www.MentorNet.net

MentorNet, headquartered at San José State University in San José, California, is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization working to further women’s progress in scientific and technical fields through the use of a dynamic, technology-supported mentoring program. MentorNet aims to advance women and society, and enhance engineering and related sciences, by promoting a diversified, expanded and talented workforce. In partnership with colleges and universities, corporations, government labs and agencies and professional societies, MentorNet is international in scope, serving students from all over the world. Major funding is provided by Alcoa Foundation, AT&T, IBM Corporation, the Intel Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Transportation.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. HRD0001388.  Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.