The Computer Science Undergraduate Association (CSUA) is launching a new program to pair incoming undergraduates with experienced students. Mentors will provide guidance to incoming students in their Computer Science education and Berkeley experience. Through personal interaction, mentors will help students navigate the bureaucracy at Berkeley, provide insight on the inner workings of the department, and give guidance about courses, research, and careers.

Mentors will:

• Meet regularly with their mentees
• Attend occasional group meetings with their mentees, that allow the discussion of shared concerns and access to multiple viewpoints
• Be versed in the resources that incoming students will find especially helpful
• Be open to questions of all varieties of topics
• Make themselves available to students even during off hours, as reasonable
• At the start of the semester, agree upon suitable arrangements for one-on-one interaction with mentees
• Maintain a multi-semester relationship with their mentee

Mentorship is a free program offered by the CSUA, open to all Berkeley students. The program will utilize the existing infrastructure of the CSUA not only by tapping its membership for mentors, but also its collective working knowledge. Mentees automatically become members of the CSUA, with all the benefits thereof.

The CSUA recognizes the contribution of other organizations that benefit the Soda Hall community. However, many of these programs address a single facet of student life. Berkeley, especially the CS department, may become for some students a lonely place where one is surrounded by strangers. This program’s holistic approach attempts to prevent such an isolating experience while complimenting other resources. Through the mentorship program, students in need of support will know for certain that they can depend on someone who’s been there.

For more information, please visit http://mentoring.csua.berkeley.eduand sign up to receive notices of events. For questions, please send e-mail to the mentoring staff at .