Florence, S.C. (July 2020) – Mentor-Connect: A Leadership Development & Outreach Initiative for ATE is proud to announce the launch of the newly redesigned Mentor-Connect website at www.mentor-connect.org. The new site features a modern design, improved functionality, and easy access to essential information to help people effectively learn more about our program, easily apply for our mentoring opportunities, and access our vast collection of interactive resources for two-year Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) faculty, administrators, grant writers, mentees, and others.

The new website is part of our continued promise to be a leader in the Advanced Technological Education (ATE) community by continuing to diversify and broaden the impact of National Science Foundation (NSF) funding. We have redeveloped our website to reflect the ever-changing innovative personality of the Mentor-Connect brand. Our design is more modern, user-friendly, and intuitive. For instance, we now have a clearer structure featuring a drop-down menu on the top of the page for a streamlined experience as well as main tab landing pages to give you direction to the drop-down menu structure should a user need guidance. We have chosen a bold, statement-making elegant color scheme that follows our previously released dissemination material.

Rick Roberts, Managing Director for SCATE Center and Co-Principal Investigator for Mentor-Connect said, “Our new website is helping to better articulate what we do; how we do it; the services we offer; and the value we bring to the NSF, ATE Community, our partners and collaborators, community and technical colleges, our mentors and mentees, STEM Faculty, and many others. I am excited to launch this new resource.”

Emery DeWitt, Mentor-Connect Program Manager and Co-Principal Investigator said, “I look forward to hearing from and working with you. Applications for specific Mentor-Connect services are provided on this website. Need more information or have specific questions, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call the help desk at 843-676-8540.”

Elaine Craft, Mentor-Connect Principal Investigator said, “As the Principal Investigator of Mentor-Connect, I am excited to see our program continue to develop and grow. Our new website allows us to reach and inform more people about the support and mentoring we offer.”

Tynisha Ferguson, SCATE Center Communication & Technology Specialist said, I am thrilled to have been leading this project and hope the user has as much of an enjoyable experience as I had working on redeveloping the website for ease of use.  

About Mentor-Connect
Mentor-Connect:  A Leadership Development and Outreach Initiative for ATE is an initiative of the South Carolina Advanced Technological Education Center of Excellence (SCATE) at Florence-Darlington Technical College designed to engage more two-year technical and community colleges in the improvement of technician education.  Mentor-Connect works in partnership with the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) to help STEM faculty teams from participating institutions apply for grant funding from the National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education Program (NSF ATE).  Potential grantees are assisted in developing grant writing skills and leadership skills.  Mentoring is used for knowledge transfer.  Those with many years of experience with NSF ATE funded projects serve as Mentors to those who are new to the program. The project itself is also currently funded through work supported by the NSF under grant numbers 1501183 and 1840856, but has been previously funded under grant number 1204463. For more information, visit About Mentor-Connect.

###