With the support of over 50 attendees, including students, mentors and staff, the Business Experience Team (BET) at Westminster Business School successfully organised an ‘International Celebration Evening’ on 7th August at the newly refurbished Marylebone campus. The ‘International Celebration Evening’ was a great event that brought together Westminster Business School mentors and mentees along with some great guest speakers from Middlesex Business School who shared their knowledge on mentoring.
The evening started with Dr. Spinder Dhaliwal‘s, Director of Postgraduate Programmes and Reader of the Dept. of Marketing and Strategy (WBS) welcome speech, where she thanked the mentors for their invaluable support and emphasised the importance of the Faculty having a vibrant international student base. She also went on to commend the Career Development Centre for its continued support in the employability of our students. Hanna Gnanaseharam, Postgraduates Programme Coordinator, was then welcomed to the platform and she further elaborated on the growth and success of the Postgraduate/MBA International Mentoring Programme, with 65 students and 33 mentors successfully taking part this year. Since 2011/12 there has been almost a 25% increase of mentoring opportunities offered to Postgraduate/MBA international students and Hanna encouraged all guests to consider becoming a mentor or recommending the programme to colleagues and business contacts. As well as coordinating the International Mentoring Programme for Postgraduate and MBA students, the BET also manage Undergraduate placements and internships for students from the Westminster Business School and other partner institutions.
A particular highlight of the evening was a speech delivered by Dr. Julie Haddock-Millar and Chandana Sanyal from Middlesex Business School who discussed ‘The changing dimensions of mentoring in the context of cultural diversity’. Gillian Kennedy, an alumni and current mentor, also took to the stage and provided a mentor’s perspective to the audience. Amongst several other reasons, Gillian explained simply why she chose to mentor: “I believe in paying it back”; “Paying it back” seems to be the common theme among all mentors who choose to spare their valuable time in their busy lives and most really enjoy it. Gillian also made reference to the ‘glass ceiling’ and the importance of mentors encouraging female students to strive to reach senior leadership positions in FTSE 100 companies.
Later in the evening, having previously received over 25 nominations, the BET presented special awards to 3 individuals in the following categories: Longstanding Mentor, Mentor of the Year and Mentee of the Year.
Constantine Louis, an alumnus of the University, received the award of ‘Longstanding Mentor’: since 2009 he has mentored over 11 Postgraduate WBS students from various courses, including MA International Business, MA Human Resource Management and MSc Finance and Accounting. Steven Kurtosi, Sales Executive from SunGard AvantGardwas, awarded ‘Mentor of Year’, with his mentee saying: “Steven went above and beyond as a mentor and gave me the tools necessary for me to succeed after graduating from the University of Westminster”. Finally, Jessica Boland, a current MBA student, was awarded ‘mentee of the year’, with her mentor stating: “Jessica now has much more professional confidence which is applied in all touch points of business from presentations, interfacing with colleagues & clients”.
Finally the evening came to a close with the presentation of the certificates and more networking. Overall the mentoring programme is a valuable experience for both parties; the mentor and mentee. All mentees have developed confidence, gained valuable advice and focus through the programme. On the other side the mentors feel fulfilled by giving it back.
If you are a full-time international Postgraduate/MBA student in your first semester of study and are interested in being paired with an experienced professional to gain valuable support and guidance, then please apply for the Postgraduate/MBA International Mentoring Programme.
For further details please contact the Business Experience Team via wbs-bet@westminster.ac.uk or visit our webpage.
The BET are currently in the process of recruiting for new mentors. This year’s programme will run twice from January – April & April – July 2014. If you are interested in becoming mentor, or know someone else who would be, please email Hanna Gnanaseharam via h.gnanaseharam@westminster.ac.uk or visit or visit our webpage.
For all other queries, please contact the Business Experience Team:
WBS Registry
35 Marylebone Road London NW1 5LS
T: +44 (0)20 3506 7026
Email: wbs-bet@westminster.ac.uk
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