EVALUATION AND PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY DEVELOPMENT: THE NAPA MENTOR PROGRAM

The NAPA Mentor Program fills an information gap between the substantive training students receive and additional knowledge they need in finding work outside the academy. This program matches anthropology students and recent graduates with established professional anthropologists who can provide career-building advice in a particular locale or content area specialty. We undertook a process evaluation to help improve the program, which was created in 1987 and moved on-line in 1998. Until a formal evaluation was undertaken, NAPA had only received anecdotal feedback about how well the Mentor Program is working and about how its policies and procedures might be refined to help meet the high demand for career-related assistance in applied and practicing anthropology. The evaluation was designed to answer three main questions: (1) What were participants' expectations about the mentor-protege relationship, and how were these expectations established? (2) What was the nature and extent of contact between mentors and proteges, including follow-up? (3) To what extent, and for what reasons, were participants satisfied with their NAPA Mentor Program experience? Twenty-four program participants were interviewed. Their experiences are highlighted, and recommendations derived from their suggestions are offered to further strengthen the program.