CAREER, STAFF, & PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
NAGAP Mentorship Program: Connecting Today’s Leaders with Tomorrow’s Visionaries By Kandice King, University of Rochester’s School of Medicine & Dentistry
It was Chicago 2010. A seasoned graduate enrollment management (GEM) professional and NAGAP member was having a conversation with an industry newcomer at a NAGAP event gathering. That simple dialogue inspired what would become the NAGAP Mentorship Program. Program Co-Founder Kittie Pain, director of graduate admissions at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, said the program was created as a means to formally connect industry veterans and rookies in a knowledge transfer. The purpose is to equip the next generation of GEM professionals to be successful industry contributors and future leaders. “For those just starting out, it’s a great way to build a network. For those who have been doing this a while, consider it your way to give back and to impart your knowledge as well as continue to learn,” she says. Fast forward to the present, and the NAGAP Mentorship Program continues to provide a safe space to swap war stories about office life. With the 2020-21 cohort, those conversations took on new meaning as the entire industry NAGAP.org
tackled together what it means to be a graduate enrollment professional in a pandemic, with unprecedented challenges. Industry veterans rewrote their playbooks as the mentor/ mentee relationship took on new meaning. The merits of industry experience took a backseat to how matched mentorship pairs might be able to innovate with creative solutions to their respective roles and obstacles during COVID-19. Here are a few of their stories.
Mike Marshall, Vice President for Enrollment, Marketing & Communication, Bellarmine University, Louisville, KY
2021 Mentor of the Year
Mike enjoyed a powerful mentoring experience years back, which equipped him with the skills and passion Spring 2022
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