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JIP Mentorship Program

The Stamps School’s Jain Industry Partnerships (JIP) mentorship program is a 7‑month matched mentorship program that pairs students and alumni for a series of structured monthly meetings between October and April. During the mentorship program, the Stamps Career Development team provides participants with training, coaching, and resources to support the success of each mentorship relationship.

An industry professional meets with a student at a Jain Industries event

Important Information about Mentor Role

  • Individuals should complete the Mentor Interest Form to express interest in becoming a mentor.

  • Interested mentors are expected to have 3+ years of corporate creative experience.

  • Interested individuals are not guaranteed a mentor role in the program. The program has limited capacity.

  • Interested individuals will be selected as a mentor based on the responses to the questions on the Mentor Interest Form.

  • You will receive an email notification if you are selected for the program.

  • Selected mentors will be paired up with 1 to 3 students based on their interests.

  • Selected mentors are expected to meet with their respective mentees for a one-hour virtual (or in-person) meeting monthly between October and April.

Mentorship Timeline

  • July 24 — Deadline to complete the Mentor Interest Form.

  • August — Schedule and complete Mentor Onboarding Info Session. The session will be recorded for those unable to make it.

  • September — Match mentors and mentees; Announcement will be made for all matches.

  • September 30 — Individuals not selected to be a mentor will be notified.

  • October to April — Mentor/​Mentee monthly connections

  • April 30 — Complete mentor feedback

A representative from Universal Studios meets with a student at a Jain Industries event
Shane Ward meets with a student at a Jain Industries event

Mentor Role & Expectations

Why participate?

Mentoring can be a fun and rewarding experience! You have the opportunity to advise, influence, and support students during their Stamps journey.

You’ll find that your own career, too, can be enhanced by the time and effort you put into a mentoring relationship as you hone your coaching skills and become familiar with the new generation entering the workforce.

What is required of me as a mentor?

  • Connect at least once a month (a total of 7 times between October and April) with your assigned mentee via video meeting or phone.

  • Support your mentee as they create and set out to achieve their personalized career goals.

  • Draw from your lived experience and career journey to help guide and coach your mentee. Provide constructive feedback to enhance your mentee’s career and professional skills.

Sample Agenda for mentorship meetings

  • Introduction Meetings

    Since selected students are mostly first- or second-years, they may be unable to eloquently articulate their goals for the mentorship relationship just yet. Use the first meeting to establish rapport and set up mutually agreed-upon meetings (at least once a month).

    From mentor:

    • Share your career journey from Stamps to your current role. How did you move from one role to another? What helped your trajectory? When did you know it was time to move on or pivot?

    • Discuss what you do in your current job. What are some challenges? What do you enjoy about your work? How do you collaborate with others? If applicable, how do you lead a team?

  • Midpoint Meetings

    Throughout the academic year, you’ll be meeting with your mentee quite a few times. Follow-up on past conversations, ongoing projects, and how to support students’ development and experiences at U-M.

    From mentor:

    • Share big projects that you are working on. Challenges and successes. Hearing real-time updates of your progress helps students understand what working in the professional world looks like.

    • Share some of your professional and personal goals. What tools or support do you utilize to help you stay motivated and on track? What does your support system look like?

    Ask your mentee:

    • How are their classes going? What are some challenges they are encountering? Are they finding any projects that bring them energy? What kinds of new skills are they learning? What do they wish they were learning?

    • Are they networking with other Stamps or UM students? Could they collaborate with others on a project, personal or professional? Are they interested in sharing their work with others? Could they submit their work for an exhibition, publication, or competition? You don’t have to have all the answers; often, prompting the student to think about it encourages them to seek more resources and information.

  • Wrap-Up Meetings

    While the wrap-up meetings for the program conclude in April, we encourage you to continue this meaningful connection you’ve created with your student(s). This could be through quarterly check-ins, LinkedIn or email messages, and/or as-needed meetings. Mentors should reflect with students on how much they have grown. This will allow students to actively understand what they have learned and how much they have grown throughout the mentorship.

    From mentor:

    • Share relevant and interesting things related to their interests that you have seen since your last meeting. Is there an artist/designer you think they should check out? A podcast, book, or exhibition? Did you hear about a unique role or company they may want to apply to now or in the future? Keeping an ongoing list or note is helpful since you only meet once a month.

    • What are some of your proudest accomplishments? How did you achieve them? Who has supported you in reaching your goals? What do you wish you had done differently? Showing your successes and failures helps you become more relatable.

    Ask your mentee:

    • Are they connecting with other professionals in their field? Have they thought about connecting with alums in interesting roles? Share professional organizations or networking events in your field. Offer to connect them with fellow alumni or professionals that you know in the area of interest.

    • How are their goals coming along? Do they need to be adjusted or changed? Helping students learn resilience and adaptability is extremely helpful, as rarely do things work exactly as planned. Sharing similar challenges or experiences can be helpful. Accountability is also crucial when starting off, especially from a source outside of family or school.

Academic Timeline and Resources

This information can help you feel more confident in what is going on in your mentee’s undergraduate experience and help to redirect them to further support through the Stamps School or the broader university. We do not expect mentors to be experts or to address challenging student situations. 

Alum Jonathan Garnett meets with a student at a Jain Industries event