By Diane Bracey ’80 and Donna McAleer ‘87

A key part of the West Point Women’s network is providing mentoring to WEST POINT women (grads and cadets) in a multitude of areas. With this in mind, we are asking as many of you as possible to enter your biographical and professional information in the Ward Book. Some of you have already done this, so thank you for your efforts!

Included in this database is a section for you to enter information on where you can assist other West Point women in a variety of areas. Among these areas are active duty, career transitions, parenting, sports and hobbies, etc. Whether you are a VP of a Fortune 500 company, a dog trainer, or stay-at-home mom, there is no better place to look for support than from other West Point women. Our experiences are unique and while we can look to a variety of people for mentoring, one of the best things we can do is seek out women who have had similar experiences to what we’re going through or about to go through. And as old grads ourselves, we feel a sense of obligation to help the younger graduates and cadets who have followed behind us. It’s pretty hard to turn down a request from a younger grad or cadet for assistance. We hope you feel the same way.

Providing Help

Here’s how to enter your data in the Ward Book:
1. Go to: http://www.westpointwomen.org/
2. Click on “Services” on the left side of the page
3. Click on “Members/Ward Book”
4. Log in with your Cullum number and west-point.org password. If you do not have a west-point.org password, please send an email to Dian Welle at feedback@west-point.org
5. Click on “Edit Info” (upper right hand corner of screen)

At this point, you can enter as little or as much information as you wish, but obviously, the more the better.

Of particular interest to us is “Mentor Areas”. Click on “Mentor Areas” and the screen will ask you to “Create New Entry”. From here, you use the pull down menu and choose from a number of categories.

Getting Help

Now, let’s say you are looking for someone to help or mentor you in a specific area, or you just want to take a look at what some of us are willing to offer in the area of mentoring.
1. Go to: http://www.westpointwomen.org
2. Click on “Services” on the left side of the page
3. Click on “Mentor Program”
4. Log in with your Cullum number and password (Email feedback@west-point.org to activate your account.)
5. The next page will allow you to search within a particular area of interest.
6. If you go to “Mentor Category”, and scroll down, you will see a number of different areas. By clicking on one of these, you will find women who may be of assistance to you in those areas. You can also refine your search by class, branch, name, etc.

Rolling Out

In 2006, the Defense Task Force on Sexual Harassment and Sexual Violence at the Service Academies, recommended service academies implement long distance mentoring for women cadets and midshipmen. WPW is leading the way and providing mentoring for graduates and cadets.

This e-mentoring database is being rolled out in three phases. The first phase involves the individual input of personal and professional information of our women graduates. The second phase is the activation of search capability. The third phase, planned for 2nd quarter 2007, will be the activation of cadet logins into the site. Prior to moving into this third phase we need the participation of our women graduates.

WPW is most appreciative of West-Point.org for their initiative in the development and continued support of this e-mentoring database.