Professor Spencer to Deliver Keynote at Mentoring Conference
BUSSW Professor Renee Spencer will be one of two keynote speakers at the Friends of Youth 8th Annual Mentoring Conference, Mentoring: Art or Science, to be held January 25 and 26, 2007, in Redwood Shores, California.
In Spencer’s keynote, “Building and Sustaining High Quality Mentoring Relationships,” the factors that tend to be associated with stronger and more effective mentoring relationships will be reviewed and illustrated by case examples from qualitative studies of more and less effective mentoring relationships. Implications for program practices and policies, such as the recruitment and selection of volunteer mentors, will also be addressed.
Spencer notes that “Mentoring programs have been enjoying unprecedented growth and research on program effectiveness is beginning to indicate that mentoring can indeed make a positive difference in the lives of young people. However, not all mentoring relationships are alike and simply being matched with a mentor does not guarantee these hoped-for benefits. Research is beginning to point to a set of factors that distinguish more effective mentoring relationships from those which contribute only marginally to improvements, or potentially even make matters worse for already vulnerable youth.”
Friends for Youth, located in Redwood City, California, is dedicated to creating quality-mentoring relationships for youth who need them most. The organization works to achieve its mission through its Mentoring Services program and its Mentoring Institute.
For more information on this topic, please contact Professor Spencer at rspenc@bu.edu.