Forever Buffs Network Mentorship Program

If you are a CU Boulder alumn, you are encouraged to participate in the mentorship program, as your story may be one that helps another Forever Buff. As a mentor, you will serve a role in the professional and personal development of your mentees. You will help your mentees navigate challenges, set goals, learn professional behavior and identify the options ahead of them. Through regular connection and intentional interactions, you can have a long-term impact on your mentee.

Mentors are encouraged to connect with their mentees regularly throughout their established mentorship relationship. Your mentorship can help provide structure to your mentee’s life, plan for the next steps in their career and help them build their professional networks.

If you are a young alum or current CU Boulder student you can be a mentee. As a mentee, your goal is to broaden your professional network and enhance your personal development using strategic planning and effective personal skills. As a mentee, you will gain knowledge from your mentor and must have the ambition to practice and demonstrate what you have learned. Your role is to identify your goals and needs while gauging whether or not you’re getting what you need from your mentor.

Mentees are encouraged to connect with their mentors regularly throughout their established mentorship relationship. The Forever Buffs Network Mentorship Program begins in October after mentorship pairs are confirmed and runs through May 2023.

Mentors and mentees will be matched based on the Forever Buffs Network’s unique algorithm, taking into account users’ profile details, including industry, location and the field selected for “What type of mentorship relationship are you seeking?”

Industry selection for Mentees:

We recommend that you select an industry closest to that for which you are interested in pursuing. This may or may not coincide with your current industry, academic major or degree. For example, if your major is Business Administration, but you are interested in pursuing a career in the film industry, select "Motion Pictures & Film."

Location selection for Mentees:

We recommend that you select your location based on where you are attempting to advance your career. For example, if you currently reside in Boulder but plan to move to New York after graduation, select New York as your location. This will help match you with a mentor in the New York area who would be a more suitable match for your career and networking needs.

BIPOC mentorship:

BIPOC Mentorship pairs will be matched based on industry and circumstance. We cannot guarantee BIPOC mentorship pairs and will do our best to satisfy this relationship type. For those who do not get matched with a BIPOC mentor/mentee, please be encouraged to join the BIPOC Mentorship Community in the Mentorship Group. The BIPOC Mentorship Community will include regular panel discussions and opportunity for peer-to-peer connection.

By joining the program, you are committing to the mentorship relationship for the 2023–2024 academic year (beginning in Oct. 2023 and ending in May 2024). The timeline ensures pairs have adequate time to connect, agree upon goals and work together to complete program milestones. Program curriculum (milestones) and key dates will be communicated through the Forever Buffs Network Mentorship Group to help mentors and mentees stay on track.

The Forever Buffs Network Mentorship Group feature works similarly to other social media platforms. By joining the group, you are formally opting into the program. Through the group, you will receive program communications, information on the next steps, training resources and much more.

This year, we have mentorship subgroups available for students and alumni of the College of Engineering & Applied Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Media, Communication and Information. If you have listed either of those colleges in your profile and have joined the Forever Buffs Network Mentorship Group, you will automatically be added to a subgroup. We hope to have additional mentorship subgroups available in the future.

We cannot guarantee that everyone who joins the program will be matched. In the instance of an uneven number of available mentors or mentees, some individuals may be left unmatched. Our Forever Buffs staff plan to communicate with any individual left unmatched and discuss steps for future involvement.

Hear from past mentors and mentees

Dr. Joe (Phys’88), past FNB mentor

“Forever Buffs Network Mentorship Program offers tremendous possibilities and opportunities to mentees and mentors to share and learn from each other. I highly recommend everyone get a mentor, and if appropriate, to be a mentor”

Melissa (Art History ‘02), past FBN mentor

“If you would like to meet exceptional individuals and be a part of their journey while at CU, being a mentor is a great way to do that.”

Molly (Socy‘23), past FBN mentee

“You will never regret being mentored. It is a great growth opportunity, even if you do not match perfectly with your mentor. There’s no doubt you will learn something new.”