NIRSA Mentor Match Program

Get connected with a NIRSA Professional Member in your area of interest

NIRSA Mentor Match Program

Get connected with a NIRSA Professional Member in your area of interest

Learning through webinars, attending conferences, and reading books are great ways to expand knowledge in the rec sports field. But there is no substitute for an experienced mentor who can challenge, nurture, and encourage your career path with information tailored for you.

The campus rec community is famous for its culture of sharing. Career professionals generously give of their expertise to help each other succeed and a great way to tap into that culture is through NIRSA Mentor Match.

Participants in NIRSA Mentor Match connect with fellow members from other institutions and regions to build networking confidence and gain new perspectives. NIRSA Mentor Match can pair you with someone who can give you the kind of insight that can sometimes be hard to get from local connections or existing inner circles.

Whether you’re a student just entering the field of campus recreation, an emerging professional wanting to broaden your network, or even an established professional who wants to learn more about the experience of a younger generation of colleagues, NIRSA Mentor Match will give you the tools you need to create and foster worthwhile relationships in the profession.

Why become a Mentor or Mentee?

Ask any veteran NIRSA member how they got where they are, and they’ll tell you it all started with a mentor. Many students were at the point of deciding what to do with their lives when someone challenged them to try campus recreation as a career and talked them through the growing pains.

Mentoring helps you gain fresh ideas, hone networking and leadership skills, learn more about the profession and professionalism, and they have even been known to play a part in facilitating future career opportunities!

  • Provide both students and professionals development opportunities with individuals from different institutions

  • Increase participants’ confidence when interacting with people outside of their inner circle

  • Encourage participants to challenge, explore, and achieve new goals to develop as a professional within NIRSA and on their campuses

How NIRSA Mentor Match works

  • Submit an application. (Make sure you’re a NIRSA Member first!)

  • You will receive a confirmation email from a Career Development Committee Member shortly after your application is received. Depending on how many people are waiting to be paired, it may take approximately two weeks to create a pairing. We will keep you updated while we find a match.

  • Once we find a mentor or mentee that we believe will make a good match, we will email you both with each other’s contact information. The answers you include in your application will be sent to your match so you can learn a bit about each other prior to your first meeting.

  • Mentors and mentees will be invited to an exclusive NIRSA Connect Community, where they will have access to monthly guided discussion topics designed to help jumpstart conversations with their match. From there, mentors and mentees meet on a schedule that works for you, via phone, email, or video conferencing software.

  • Though the program lasts for a year, if you feel that you’re not meshing with your mentor or mentee you can request a new pairing at any time or exit the program altogether.

  • Step 1: Submit an application. (Make sure you’re a NIRSA Member first!)

    Once we find a mentor or mentee that we believe will make a good match, we will email you both with each other’s contact information. The answers you include in your application will be sent to your match so you can learn a bit about each other prior to your first meeting.

  • Step 2: Meet your match on a schedule that works for you via phone, email, or video conference.

    Mentors and mentees will be invited to an exclusive NIRSA Connect Community, where they will have access to monthly guided discussion topics designed to help jumpstart conversations with their match.

  • Though the program lasts for a year, if you feel that you’re not meshing with your mentor or mentee you can request a new pairing at any time or exit the program altogether.

Submit an application. (Make sure you’re a member first!)

You will receive a confirmation email from a Career Development Committee Member shortly after your application is received. Depending on how many people are waiting to be paired, it may take approximately two weeks to create a pairing. We will keep you updated while we find a match.

Once we find a mentor or mentee that we believe will make a good match, we will email you both with each other’s contact information. The answers you include in your application will be sent to your match so you can learn a bit about each other prior to your first meeting.

Mentors and mentees will be invited to an exclusive NIRSA Connect Community, where they will have access to monthly guided discussion topics designed to help jumpstart conversations with their match. From there, mentors and mentees meet on a schedule that works for you, via phone, email, or video conferencing software.

Though the program lasts for a year, if you feel that you’re not meshing with your mentor or mentee you can request a new pairing at any time or exit the program altogether. 

Ways to Use the “Triple Play”

  1. Regularly scheduled video calls are a great way to develop a relationship
  2. Activities and discussion can be created organically — the “Triple Play” is one of many aids to guide discussions

The NIRSA Mentor Program has provided professional and personal connections that have allowed me to grow in the field of recreation and wellness.

The value of engaging and empowering the next wave of leaders is invaluable. We strive to connect, inform, and inspire our campuses to be inclusive hubs of wellness, but when we do this among ourselves we create a web of support and success across our industry. The Mentor Program is more than a pairing; it is an opportunity to grow and develop both in ourselves and others.

— Drake Belt, University of Arizona

For more information about NIRSA Mentor Match, contact membership@nirsa.org.

“Without consistent, effective, genuine, and overall fun mentorship, I wouldn’t know what path would lead me to my ultimate goal and overall happiness on this crazy road map of life.”

— Kimmi Sterner, Mentee

“Mentoring is about building authentic relationships. The ability to connect on both a professional and personal level enhances this overall experience.”

— Stan Shingles, Mentor

Our weekly FaceTime discussions have been filled with so much passion for campus recreation and fitness! We will go into each discussion with a topic or even an agenda, but our love for what we do takes us on tangents through sharing personal inspirational stories, difficult conversations and talking through career paths. I’m always impressed by Angie’s enthusiasm to learn and also grateful for what she has taught me! I feel very fortunate to have been paired up through NIRSA’s Mentor Program.

— Jessica Grah, Mentor

Each week I look forward to Skyping with my mentor. We both are excited about sharing our experiences with each other and continue to learn from one another each time we talk. Having a mentor who has experienced the world of campus recreation and shares her great insight in a wide range of expertise has inspired me to pursue further goals with greater confidence. I am so thankful for her support and highly recommend becoming apart of the NIRSA Mentor Program.

— Angie Isernio, Mentee

Spread the word!

Please help us notify student and professional members about this professional development opportunity.

Do you know a professional who would make a great mentor? We want to know about them, too.