Shaping Leaders

Shaping Leaders

Summer Mentorship Experience More Than an Internship

RICE NEWS

September 30, 1999

When Shannon Fink arrived for her summer mentorship in Israel, the Rice junior was briefed by officials at the United States Information Agency. Then she was issued a gas mask.

Although it wasn’t a typical first day on the job, Fink–who never actually had cause to use the gas mask–quickly found her place in the organization with the guidance and support of her mentor, Julie G. Conner ’73. She was matched with Conner through Leadership Rice, a program that trains students in ethics, presentation and persuasion skills and community interaction.

Fink was one of a record 53 students who participated in the Summer Mentorship Experience through Leadership Rice. Of those, six were placed in international mentorships that were offered for the first time since the program’s creation in 1994.

Leadership Rice gives students the opportunity to temper their education with experience through summer mentorships. After classroom study of leadership styles, qualities and skills, the program allows students to see those concepts applied in a cross-section of corporate, nonprofit or governmental organizations around the world.

The Summer Mentorship Experience is much more than just another internship, say the students who participated in the program. Because they are matched with mentors, students have the opportunity to shadow company and organization leaders, which allows them to see how successful individuals work on a daily basis. They witness–and sometimes are involved with–the successes and problems of a business.

Fink realizes her experience working for the cultural attaché for the U.S. Information Agency could have been much different if it weren’t for Conner’s guidance.

“My mentor was awesome,” Fink says. “She took me to senior staff meetings, invited me to dinner parties at her house and gave me the guidance I needed to be in charge of important projects. She was willing to take the time to explain things to me so that I was capable of doing much more substantial work than just making Xerox copies.”

Jeremy Wilson, a Baker College senior, worked in Belgium with EASDAQ, a pan-European stock market geared for high-growth companies in search of capital. He saw firsthand how his experience differed with that of students hired as interns.

“While other interns were treated more like temps, I was able to develop a personal relationship with Erik Hallmann, the executive vice president of the European stock market. I worked right next to his office, and I was able to observe how he directed this new and growing stock market,” he says. “And since he was my mentor, I was given more responsibility, and I was also able to participate in EASDAQ business meetings, presentations and integrate myself into part of their business developmentteam.”

In addition to Fink and Wilson’s international experiences, other Rice students were placed in mentorships as far away as Botswana and South America and as close as Washington, D.C., and Houston.

Summer assignments aren’t random. Susan Lieberman, the program’s director, listens to what applicants say–and sometimes what they don’t say–in matching students with suitable mentors. And just as students compete for acceptance into the mentorship program, mentors must be “effective, successful and ethical leaders themselves” before they’re tapped to oversee a Rice student.

“We won’t place a student unless there’s a mentor in place to ensure there will be something substantive,” Lieberman says. “This isn’t a job placement service.”

For their eight-to-10 weeks of full-time employment, students earn a modest stipend of $2,500 for domestic mentorships. Those in international mentorships receive $1,500 as well as housing provided by the mentor.

Lieberman is concerned with what the 5-year-old summer program can be and is full of plans for its future. For example, the program seeks more endowed mentorships for students, even more international mentorsand more follow-up opportunities for students after they return from their summer assignments.

Above all, Lieberman hopes students leave the Leadership Rice program and their mentorship experience “with a clearer understanding of their interests, their abilities and their opportunities,” she says. “I hope they have a chance in the summer to take a risk, to make a mistake and to learn to recoup from a difficult situation. It is my intention that they build up their confidence, but also that they come to learn that intellectual ability is only a threshold requirement for success. Many other qualities contribute to effective leadership.”

Much of Leadership Rice, including the Summer Mentorship Experience, owes its success to alumni Hershel ’45/’47 and Hilda ’48 Rich, who became interested in the program when it was still a working proposal by President Malcolm Gillis and Vice President for Student Affairs Zenaido Camacho.

“The Riches’ early support helped to make Leadership Rice real,” Lieberman says. Recently, the Riches pledged a $1 million endowed gift so that the program can continue to grow.

“Hershel and Hilda Rich are wonderful role models for Leadership Rice students and are wonderful friends to the program,” Lieberman says. “Leaders themselves, they’re a source of insight and advice. They demonstrate that it’s about going beyond what is to what can be.”