It allows mentors to have frequent interactions with students instead of just meeting with them every few weeks. HP mentors come from such places as California, Colorado, Hong Kong, and Singapore. The students live in places like Australia, Canada, and Germany. One reason why HP's telementoring program has been so effective is that it requires specific commitments from everyone involved. For their part, HP mentors agree to own the relationship.
Most mentors send and receive one to three email messages per week.
That kind of commitment produces results. Now you can see the sparkle in her eyes. Neils's eyes are sparkling too. HP made a hefty up-front financial contribution and has pledged 1,500 mentors to support the ITC, which plans to recruit other corporate sponsors as charter members. Neils hopes that his center will serve 10,000 students per year by 2003.