At a school as large as Ohio State, there are plenty of resources available to students looking for extra help and guidance. Even so, sometimes individuals get lost in the shuffle. This is especially true for students in majors in which they are the minority. Help is on the way in the form of MentorNet, which OSU has enrolled in.

MentorNet is the award-winning nonprofit e-mentoring network that addresses the retention and success of those in engineering, science and mathematics, particularly, but not exclusively, women and other underrepresented groups, according to the MentorNet Web site. It was founded in 1997 by Carol Muller, a consulting associate professor of mechanical engineering at Stanford University.

Students, including undergraduate, graduate, postdoctoral and early-career faculty are paired with mentors for an eight-month e-mail-based relationship, said Denise Mayo, executive administrative assistant for MentorNet. Mentors are professionals in industry, academia, government labs and top corporations.

Students and mentors fill out online applications in which they put their preferences for potential matches, Mayo said. The best possible matches are then calculated and students pick a mentor from the given choices.

The professionals who serve as mentors are volunteers who give their time to helping students, Mayo said. She said they get great feedback from mentors who say it is inspiring.

“They seem to just love it,” Mayo said.

She said the program is free to students. Sponsors of MentorNet include Google, IBM and Hewlett Packard.

“They turn around and publicize it a lot to their employees,” Mayo said.

Fees are also paid by member institutions. OSU’s enrollment in the service is funded by the colleges of engineering, biological sciences, and math and physical sciences, and the Women’s Place, according to Buckeye Net News.

Deborah Ballam, associate provost and director of the Women’s Place, said while Women’s Place is not doing any public relations campaigning for MentorNet, it is enthusiastically supporting it.

“Mentoring is critical for anyone’s success,” Ballam said. “Since women are under-represented (in the sciences), it is important they have this resource available to them.”

Ballam said the service should be particularly beneficial for women in specialized fields, who will now have a vast number of national resources available to them.

Liza Toher, a graduate student in electrical engineering, had not heard of MentorNet but said it sounded like a great idea. Since her field is heavily dominated by men, it has been difficult to find people to talk to and share concerns with, she said.

“I’m sure having a mentor would have helped me think through my choices more,” Toher said. “I don’t regret anything, but it would have been a help.”

MentorNet started out as a small experiment geared toward women, but has grown to serve more than 15,000 students at more than 100 campuses, Mayo said. These students include Hispanics, Native Americans, blacks and women, who are all underrepresented in science and engineering, she said.

Mayo said MentorNet would like to expand internationally and into other fields and age groups, but it is currently focused on college students. Despite these goals, MentorNet is functioning on a year-to-year basis because of a lack of funding, she said.

“We’re really trying to scrape by,” Mayo said.

Ballam said she hopes the program sticks around and makes a positive influence on the lives of OSU students.

“We hope it will increase the quality of life and retention of women in these fields,” Ballam said.

For more information or to sign up for MentorNet, visit the Web site at mentornet.net.