FASL 31 will host a Pop-Up Mentoring event as part of the conference program. The deadline for registration is June 17. Please consider signing up as a mentor or a mentee — information below! Mentors are especially appreciated: this is a low-commitment and high reward event. 

What is the Pop-Up Mentoring Project? The Pop-Up Mentoring Program (PUMP) is a series of events that travel around from conference to conference, giving anyone who is interested a chance to have a brief meeting with a mentor outside of their official support system. Mentors and mentees are paired by a PUMP coordinator based on shared interests for a one-time, no-strings-attached mentoring session. The event is open to all, regardless of career stage or gender (i.e. despite being organized by COGEL, formerly known as COSWL), and the purpose of the mentoring sessions is to help more junior colleagues with a variety of potential problems and questions that arise in a professional context, such as work/life balance, minority status, and graduate or job applications. These events have proved popular and helpful for everyone involved. PUMP events are open to all!

Why participate in a PUMP event? Mentees report that it has been extremely valuable to meet with someone outside of their department to whom they can pose questions they feel they cannot discuss with their official mentors. Mentors report how enriching it has been to become familiar with a broader context in which to examine the field and their own official mentees’ experiences. 

Click here to sign up to be a mentee.Click here to sign up to be a mentor. For additional information, click here. If you have questions, please contact Jessica Rett (rett@ucla.edu).