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Information Technology Advisory Board (ITAB)


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IT Mentoring - Program FAQs

Here is a list of FAQ's about the ITAB Mentoring Program.

What is the ITAB Mentoring Program?

A brief description of the ITAB Mentoring Program:

· Connects new (or new to the state) IT Managers, IT Directors and CIO's with seasoned IT mentors
· Provides a framework and training for them to pursue a year-long mentoring relationship through e-mail, telephone calls and personal visits
· Matches new IT Managers (protégés) with seasoned IT Managers (mentors).

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What are the goals of the ITAB Mentoring Program?
Supporting IT professionals throughout the State of Missouri will assist in meeting current and future labor demands for information technology leaders within the state, as well as help new state IT Mangers get off to a quick and productive start. The project goals are to provide protégés with mentoring to enhance their performance in the information technology community and to facilitate their entry into the state government IT environment.  Secondary objectives of the program include better understanding the progression of mentoring and identifying the predictors of successful mentoring relationships, especially as they apply to mentoring in the IT community. These objectives will aid in improving the ITAB Mentoring Program in subsequent years, and will enhance understanding of the mentoring process to benefit other mentoring programs.

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How is the ITAB Mentoring Program sponsored and funded?
The ITAB Mentoring Program is an ITSD/ITAB sponsored initiative that relies upon volunteers, interagency collaboration and partnership among state government agencies, state universities and IT associations, all committing resources in the form of labor, technical expertise, computing resources and financial support to develop the project.  We are recruiting additional strategic partners and are developing a membership program that will ultimately sustain the ITAB Mentoring Program's operations and growth into the future.

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Who can participate?
Men and women with educational or professional backgrounds in information technology, who are employed in a state agency or state university, may apply to serve as mentors or protégés. To find out more about participating as a mentor or protégé, visit the About MO IT Mentoring/Eligibility section of this web site.

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Since everyone applies over the Internet, how does the ITAB Mentoring Program ensure everyone is who they say they are?
Every mentor who applies has to provide a reference that can verify the applicant's identity and qualifications.  We check many of these references. When applicants use state email addresses to sign up with the ITAB Mentoring Program, we validate their identity in the state email directory. Finally, we check the names of both mentor and protégé applicants against the SAMII HR database and verify they are currently employed.

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What about confidentiality?
Information you provide to the ITAB Mentoring Program is confidential unless we tell you otherwise. For example, we will provide your basic contact information to your mentoring partner as you begin your relationship. If you signed up as a mentor with the ITAB Mentoring Program, we will let your employer know of your participation. We provide protégés' names to their employers. We provide both mentor and protégé names and contact information to the ITAB subcommittee for the ITAB Mentoring Program's evaluation. On occasion, we may seek both mentors' and protégés' permission to give their names and contact information to reporters writing articles about the ITAB Mentoring Program. If you approach the ITAB Mentoring Program staff with questions about or problems with your mentoring relationship, we will hold all details in confidence unless you instruct us otherwise. Please remember, however, that there are practical limits to the security of electronic communications. Although it is very unlikely that anyone would ever see or access your email, it is sometimes possible for communications to be intercepted or for system administrators to abuse their control of resources. If you have any questions about email security, please direct them to your local systems administrator. 

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How do I sign up?
If you are an IT Manager, IT Director or CIO with less than one year of experience either in state government or your present position, and you have read over the information on the ITAB Mentoring web site, you may apply by submitting an electronic Application. 

· If you want to be a Protégé, go to the Apply section of our web site and click on the button that says 'Protégé Application'.
· If you want to be a Mentor, go to the Apply section of our web site and click on the button that says 'Mentor Application'.

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Why is the ITAB Mentoring Program focused on IT Managers, IT Directors and CIO's?
We are constraining our growth so that we can build and test systems and maintain a quality program within the resources we have available.  The ITAB Mentoring Program's mission is to promote learning in the information technology field of state government.  Therefore, we recruit mentors who are in the information technology fields and are working in one of the government agencies or state universities. We do not have the mentor pool to match other profession's protégés with a suitable mentor.  As we add more supporting partners, we will continue to invite more and more IT employees to participate. We hope to get to the point where any State of Missouri IT. employee can participate.

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When will the program start and what can I expect?
How much time will I need to invest? For mentors, a little time and a lot of understanding, insight, and support. For protégés, a little time, a lot of open-minded curiosity, and a willingness to learn. By signing up with the ITAB Mentoring Program, you are committing to exchange regular emails, telephone calls and personal visits with a mentoring partner. We estimate that you will spend an average of 20 to 60 minutes per week, but this varies depending on the pairs.

We also ask that you reply to requests for information from the ITAB Mentoring Program staff. You will be receiving an Evaluation Form at the completion of the program and may receive one or more short surveys during the year-long program. 

As a participant, you will also want to familiarize yourself with the About MO IT Mentoring and Additional Information sections of our web sites. On both pages, you will find information about what the ITAB Mentoring Program expects from participants, and what participants can expect from the ITAB Mentoring Program.

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Does it cost anything to participate?
Only your time.  The ITAB and the Information Technology Services Division finance the cost of operating the ITAB Mentoring Program.

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How long does the program run?
The normal program runs for one year to provide an opportunity for the pair to address issues that recur only once a year – like Budgeting. However, we expect the relationships built during that time to last forever.

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Is everyone who applies matched with a mentoring partner?
Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that every protégé applicant will be matched with a mentor. While we do all we can to find appropriate matches for everyone, the pools of available mentors and interested protégés do not always match perfectly, so we are sometimes unable to match everyone who is interested in participating.

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What does the ITAB Mentoring Program do to support the mentoring relationship?
The ITAB Mentoring Program is a structured mentoring program. Therefore, we provide multiple supports to help mentors and protégés develop and sustain a mentoring relationship. We carefully match mentors with protégés, based on their interests and preferences.

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How will I know what to say?
The Mentor Guide as well as the Protégé Guide provide several suggestions to help you get started; not only questions you might ask but with many others tips and tricks.

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What if there are problems or misunderstandings between a mentor and a protégé?
Through the regular discussion suggestions, we ask you to inform us if you have not heard from your mentoring partner, if you have questions or comments about the mentoring relationship, and if you are uncomfortable with any aspect of your mentoring relationship. We will address your questions, help to reconnect you and your mentoring partner, or rematch you with a different partner, as appropriate. If we become aware of any inappropriate behavior between a mentor and a protégé, we will quickly un-match the mentoring pair, disqualify the offending party from participation in the ITAB Mentoring Program, and find a suitable rematch for the other mentoring partner. 

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What is the ITAB Mentoring Program's discrimination policy?
The ITAB Mentoring Program is committed to the creation and maintenance of an environment for members and program participants that is free of harassment or discrimination based on factors such as sex, race, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation or affectional preference, marital or veteran status, or any other protected status under applicable federal, state, or local law. 

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