During summer and fall 2016 semesters, the WTS Florida Gator student chapter collaborated with the Central Florida (CFL) WTS professional chapter, in particular with Lara Bouck and Danyu Shi, to establish a distance mentorship program. The mentorship’s major goal is to help and prepare the WTS student board members transition from academia to industry.

The student board members are matched with mentors who are women currently working as transportation professionals. The mentors share their insights, time management strategies, how to manage conflict, and provide advice to help student prepare for the professional world. The program is currently only available to the WTS Florida Gator student chapter board members.

“This is the first time that the WTS Florida Gator student chapter took such an initiative,” said Ria Kontou, who is the WTS Florida Gator student chapter president and graduates with her Ph.D. this fall. “Our mentorship program is essentially a personalized professional development experience. The student chapter’s board members get the opportunity to be mentored by professional women with experience in transportation engineering and urban planning.”

“This program is designed to contribute to our transportation industry career planning and leadership development, we are grateful to the CFL WTS professional chapter for this collaboration,” she added.

To create an effective mentoring relationship, both parties must communicate to establish a desired outcome. Thanks to the efforts of the Central Florida WTS professional chapter, the WTS Florida Gator student chapter board members have already communicated with their mentors. Mentors and mentees are currently working to define action plans and communicate on a regular basis. The WTS Florida Gator student chapter will be visiting Orlando, Florida in February 2017 to meet their mentors in person.