MENTORSHIP PANEL Today, 5 p.m. Kerckhoff Grand Salon

The Armenian Graduate Students Association, which has run mentorship panels for the last five years, is expanding its program to provide year-round mentoring to undergraduate students interested in UCLA’s graduate schools.

The group plans to hold the sixth annual Mentorship Panel today, and it is open to all UCLA undergraduate students.

The panelists, who will be making brief presentations about their programs, represent 12 UCLA graduate and professional schools, including the schools of law, medicine, management, dentistry, nursing, engineering, film and television, said Raffi Kassabian, projector coordinator for the Mentorship Panel.

After the presentations, the undergraduates will form focus groups with the panelists from the programs of their choice. In the groups, students will be able to ask specific questions about the programs and the panelists’ experience, Kassabian said.

One panelist, first-year medical student Andrew Behesnilian, said he will talk about what is expected of medical school applicants and answer questions regarding issues such as undergraduate research and volunteer experience.

Another panelist, Nishan Tchekmedyian, a first-year medical student, plans to speak about applying to medical school with nontraditional majors and duel programs like the MD/MBA program, in which students get a medical degree and a MBA degree in five years.

Tchekmedyian graduated UCLA last June with a molecular cellular developmental biology and business economics double major.

This year’s panelists will become mentors and stay connected with the undergraduate students through their application process, while in past years the mentorship did not last past the event, said Shirley Mossessian, project coordination officer for the Armenian Graduate Student Association.

Some panelists say they are excited about their role in helping students apply to graduate school.

“I think it’s a great opportunity to help undergraduates figure out what they want to do and provide them with a little career guidance,” Tchekmedyian said.

The mentorship program also aims to help first-generation college students and students with language barriers with the application process.

Kassabian said many Armenian students at UCLA are first-generation college students and would benefit from having mentors guide them.

Event organizers say they expect the panel to draw about 50 undergraduate students, most of whom are likely to be from the Armenian Student Association.

The organizers of the event also hope it will help to better connect the graduate and undergraduate Armenian student associations.

“The main goal is to mentor, to build a stronger relationship between the graduate and undergraduate communities,” said Kassabian.

Students who are unable to make the event tonight can still sign up with a mentor, Mossessian said.