http://www.bettycjung.net/Phenomdes.htm
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Read the comments of those who have contacted PHENOM |
SERVICE COMMITTEE By Betty C. Jung, MPH, '93, Service Chair & P.H.E.N.O.M. Program Director
Citation: Jung, BC (2002 - 2010). Public Health Expertise Network of Mentors Program Description. From Southern Connecticut State University Alumni Magazine, Spring '03: "PUBLIC HEALTH MENTORING GROUP"
As a recent graduate, Betty C. Jung, M.P.H. '93, envisioned a mentoring program that would provide students with advice on the public health field--from selecting the most useful classes to finding a job. Enlisting the aid of 22 of her classmates, she formed the Graduate Alumni Mentor Program, serving as program coordinator. During the next 10 years, the program evolved and grew impressively. Now known as the Public Health Expertise Network of Mentors, (P.H.E.N.O.M.), the program is administered entirely over the Web and features 24 mentors, most of whom are SCSU alumni. The Web site www.bettycjung.net/Phenom.htm also includes pages devoted to the most frequently requested topics, including finding a job, research methods, biostatistics information, and public health resources. Jung currently serves as the program director.
P.H.E.N.O.M. has been approved by the international Web-based mentoring organization, Peer Resources Network.
If you are interested in becoming a public health mentor or would like more information on the program, contact Betty Jung via email at bettycjung@yahoo.com Source: Southern Magazine. Spring 2003
MISSION, GOALS, OBJECTIVES
MISSION: To provide SCSU's Department of Public Health faculty, current students and people interested in the field of Public Health with an on-line resource bank of professional public health expertise. GOAL 1: To provide the Internet community with an on-line directory of public health practitioners who have offered to serve as career mentors to anyone interested in the field and the practice of Public Health.
GOAL 2: To provide the Internet community with an on-line directory of public health practitioners who are willing to, on an individual basis, share their work and/or academic experiences.
GOAL 3: To provide public health practitioners the opportunity to share their professional expertise and academic experiences.
EVALUATION PROCESS
The goal of the evaluation process is to ensure that the program is a meaningful venture, fulfilling expressed wants and needs of mentors and those who utilize the program. The objective is to collect qualitative data that can be used to
quantitatively:
Mentors are asked to keep a log of their mentoring activities, and to submit this, or a summary of its contents, to the program director at the end of each yearly tenure. At that time, each Public Health Mentor:
A component of the mentor log - how people heard about the program - is used to ensure that the listing is useful to its intended audiences. Mentors are asked for suggestions and comments for improving the program. As a result of such input, the program is now available on the World Wide Web. It is also a vital resource of the Southern Connecticut State University Department of Public Health's services to its students and alumni. The program director analyzes the data collected by mentors and compiles statistics regarding activities, which are available upon request. Mentors are acknowledged for their participation by being listed on the P.H.E.N.O.M. Appreciation Page and A Certificate of Appreciation is issued to mentors completing the annual evaluation.
RECRUITMENT INFORMATION
WHAT ARE WE ALL ABOUT? Basically, we are a group of volunteer public health professionals interested in helping people to learn more about the field of Public Health, and to explore career opportunties in this discipline. Using Internet technology, we can mentor virtually anyone who has access to the Internet. Most contacts are handled over E-mail. While the Public Health Expertise Network of Mentors (P.H.E.N.O.M.) Program continues to be a service program of the Public Health Alumni Chapter's Service Committee, providing resources to the students attending Southern CT State University's Public Health and other academic programs, we have expanded to accommodate the needs of the Internet's professional community by enhancing communication in this ever-growing medium. The P.H.E.N.O.M. Directory is an on-line directory listing volunteer mentors for the current academic year. An on-line directory was first posted in 1999 to enhance dissemination of mentor information to those who access the World Wide Web. In essence, such outreach has extended beyond the physical boundaries of a college campus to the virtual worldwide Internet community. Through this medium, mentors can be reached with E-mail. WHAT IS THE ROLE OF A MENTOR? As a public health practitioner you can provide valuable insight into what employers expect of those with a college preparation in Public Health. Also, having completed a program of study in Public Health you can share your academic experiences with those who are interested in making the most of their academic pursuits, as well as fellow public health professionals who may be just starting their careers, or seasoned professionals looking for feedback or input on Public Health issues. By making yourself available, via E-mail or phone contact, you will be able to share your academic and work experiences. Such sharing enhances your professional growth as well. HOW DO I BECOME A MENTOR? Renewable one-year voluntary terms of service follow the academic calendar. By completing a Public Health Mentor File Form and submitting a resume, a profile can be developed and included in the on-line directory that is posted on the Internet. Those interested in your areas of expertise would then contact you for advice, information, etc. Recruitment usually occurs during the Spring (April - June) for the following academic year. However, forms are now available on the Net for year-round recruitment. If you want more information, E-mail Betty C. Jung, Program Director. WHAT IS EXPECTED OF ME AS A MENTOR? For the time you are serving as a mentor, keep track of your contacts on an annual log form. This will help the program director to assess the types of services the program is providing and to develop other types of activities to meet the needs of students and individuals contacting mentors. At the end of the academic year you will be expected to turn in your log and to fill out an evaluation form. At that time you can choose to continue for another year or take a break. Your feedback is essential to the annual program report. WHAT CAN I EXPECT AS A MENTOR? You may or may not get contacted. Most contacts are made via E-mail. Responses can vary from 5 - 30 minutes (the time it takes to write an E-mail response). Telephone contacts last anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes. Contact data are being collected for purposes of assessing and evaluating program activities. Content includes questions about what a mentor is doing at his/her workplace, what kinds of academic electives a mentor found to be most useful, assistance with course work (i.e., where to get certain kinds of information), ideas for a Special Project, Thesis, or an internship, how to become certified in a specialty area, what kinds of skills are expected for a particular public health discipline (i.e., best evaluation methods for health education interventions, type of statistical programs an epidemiologist may need to know, etc.) E-mail Betty with the information requested on the Profile Form and a copy of your resume.
QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, ETC. can be directed to the P.H.E.N.O.M. Program Director, Betty C. Jung. She can be reached:
PHILOSOPHY OF PHENOM
Peer counseling activities have been a vital service "for students by students" at many institutions of higher learning. Those who have participated in the peer counseling process have found their participation to be a satisfying experience. Peer counseling components are found in well-organized freshman orientation programs, "Big Sister" programs, resident assistant programs, to name a few. All these programs share a common mission - to help a fellow individual along Life's road. Those who participate as peer counselors understand the value of how their past experiences in handling similar problems and issues may benefit those who share common goals and aspirations. Everyone can use some words of wisdom, advice and encouragement from those who also, in the process, have overcome obstacles and developed maturity and a richer outlook on life in the process. The basic concept of peer counseling has been adopted by mentoring programs that can be found in a variety of settings, for various age groups, covering diverse areas. Mentoring makes the most of what Teaching offers to the quality of our lives. Only through sharing what we know do we come to better understand ourselves and the world around us. Those who learn from mentors develop a better understanding of what they want out of Life.
HISTORY OF PHENOM
In the spirit of what peer counseling offers to counselor and counselee, the Southern Connecticut State University Public Health Alumni Mentor Program was implemented in 1993. According to the 1993 Graduate Alumni Survey that was conducted that year, over a third of those responding were interested in becoming involved in a mentoring activity. An October 1993 graduate student survey showed 93.8% wanted to speak to alumni about job experiences and 87.5% wanted to speak to alumni about school experiences. During the 1993-1994 academic year, graduate alumni of the Southern CT State University (SCSU) Department of Public Health's Master of Public Health Program volunteered their time to offer career and school advice to students of the Master of Public Health Program. This activity was then known as the Graduate Public Health Alumni Mentor Program. Brochure listings of volunteer alumni were distributed to the graduate faculty. In February 1994, the Public Health Alumni Chapter was created as an affiliate chapter of the SCSU Alumni Association. With the establishment of a Public Health Alumni Chapter in 1994, mentoring activities were expanded to undergraduate students as well, based on alumni responses to the first chapter survey. Undergraduate and graduate alumni with a public health degree served as mentors to students enrolled in a public health program, as well to other individuals on the SCSU campus who were interested in Public Health career opportunities. Annual directory brochures listing volunteer mentors were developed and distributed on the SCSU campus. The program became known as the Public Health Alumni Mentor (PHAM) Program. During the summer of 1999, the annual SCSU PHAM brochure was converted into a Web page document and made available on this Web site, as well as on the SCSU Department of Public Health's Web site, with links to SCSU's Alumni Association Web site. This enabled the program to develop an international outreach. The Internet also facilitated program administrative tasks. Beginning in 2001, in response to the growing popularity of the online mentor directory, public health practitioners who did not graduate from SCSU offered to become online mentors. Thus, the program was reconceptualized to reflect the broader reach to meet the demands of its new environment - the World Wide Web. The program became known as the "Public Health Expertise Network of Mentors" (PHENOM) in 2002. Today, mentors and mentees are no longer just SCSU alumni and students, but people from around the world looking for resources and information about Public Health. Mentors now are able to share their expertise with new professionals in the field as well as provide support to more seasoned professionals looking for feedback and input on public health issues. This mentoring program was part of the curriculum for two of Southern Connecticut State University Department of Public Health courses: PCH 496 - Seminar for Public Health Practice, and PCH 202 - Introduction to Public Health. For PCH 496, students were given opportunities to develop a one-to-one semester-long relationship with a mentor to learn more about the what public health professionals do. For PCH 202, students were required for the final exam to contact three mentors to learn about what public health professionals do in a variety of settings. Currently, all administrative tasks are being handled over the Internet. Active mentors are kept current by receiving the P.H.E.N.O.M. Electronic Newsletter, that was started up during the 2001-2002 academic year. Recruitment for volunteers are conducted through announcements in the Public Health E-News and Public Health Jobs Electronic Newsletters, and on this Web site. Profile and contact forms can be completed online, and are available from the Service Committee Page . Starting in 2005, Certificates of Appreciation can be printed from the Net, and can be found on the PHENOM Certificates of Appreciation . For the 1999-2000 academic year, the Mentor Directory on the Web site received over 90 hits. As of July, 2005, there was a total of 5,376 hits. As of July 2007, there was a total of 12,057 hits. Visitors come from 121 countries. Check out the current visitor statistics at PHENOM Program statistics . All public health practitioners are invited to participate in the Public Health Expertise Network of Mentors (P.H.E.N.O.M.). Participants are committed to one-year voluntary terms (Academic Year) as mentors, during which they are part of the program's evaluation process. At the end of each term, mentors are given the opportunity to (dis)continue their mentorship. In recent years, most mentors stay on.
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© Copyright 1993 - 2010 Betty C. Jung
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