As a component of the 40th Anniversary of the College of Architecture and Planning, the CAP Alumni Board has created a mentor program called "CAP Connection: Linking Students to Alumni in Practice" to connect students with the college's alumni in the professional design world. Giving students' insight into their chosen field and strengthening the status of the profession by providing a venue for education and communication is the mission for CAPment. This mentor program is for students the (mentee) and alumni the (mentor) in Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning. CAP Connection will help students find their directions and define what they want to be. This program gives alumni around the world a chance to give back to their College and stay connected to what is currently happening in the room.
The Alumni Board has modeled CAP Connection after the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (CALA) at the University of Minnesota. The CALA Mentor Program is one of the largest in the nation with over 300 participants in the 1999-2000 school year. The CALA Mentor Program started in 1996 with 37 pairs. Ball State's College of Architecture and Planning has a goal of starting its program with 40 pairs, in honor of this year's 40th Anniversary, however, it is the intent of the Alumni Board that any student or alumni who has an interest in participating in the program will be paired in this inaugural year of the program. The CALA Mentor Program welcomes students and mentors from all experience levels in all related disciplines, and strives to pair students and mentors to closely match their needs and interests. The benefits are immeasurable for everyone involved, and many participants find it to be one of the most rewarding experiences in which they will ever participate. (text from CALAMENT Website)
The CAP Mentor Program envisions a worldwide network of alumni mentoring students throughout their academic years and on to and through their careers, where they in turn begin mentoring future generations of professionals. Using the definition of mentoring---a community of wisdom---this program, in light of current technologies, potentially has no termination.
With the participation and dedication of students and alumni, Ball State University will use the program already developed at CALA to begin a program that has only been a dream for many years at CAP A committee of student leaders and Alumni Board members from each discipline will oversee CAP Connection. For more information please contact the CAP Connection Program Coordinators at capment@bsu.edu.
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