Updates...thoughts..etc.

Hey Luke,

Thanks for keeping me in the loop! It looks like you guys ahve made excellent progress! I bet you have already thought of most of this, but these were ideas that I had as I was going through the documents.

Regarding the meeting on the 12th:
>>It all looks pretty good and I would say that most of my comments deal with the chart and your timeline! I would say that an additional goal for the first six/seven months would be for the mentoring scheme show some definitive benefits for the University, staff, and students involved. This would help provide further incentive for the programs to continue! The website is essential! It can also provide a place to put resources for mentors such as tips, handouts, strategies, training, etc.

Mentor Action Plan:
>>Under the "website" > Create Content for website, possibly include resources that would have strategies, tips, possibly training features - this part could be added at a later date though. You could also have the mentoring schemesfeatured once they are set up. For example if the journalism scheme gets started then have the contact information for the program, times and places they meet (if they meet outside of class), mentor bios, etc.
>>Under "Identify," I would also have an application process available for interested students. That way staff can suggest students who would be good and self-motivated students can also apply.
>>Under "Applications," I know you have training later on in the process, but perhaps you could mention in the application process that training will be required from CELT or from the department or programme. I know evaluation is looked at later, but also it could be mentioned that evaulation will also be part of participating in the mentoring scheme.
>>I would make the date for submission fairly quick, but it depends on how many schemes that you guys are trying to luanch for this term. The more you want, the longer I would make the date for submission.
Under the "applications," I would also favor appliactions stemming from programmes that experiences poor retention rates, which I think you mentioned earlier in the meeting mintues.
>>I would also be tempted to get a variety of appliaction from all over the university. So basically, I would want an app;;laiction for the journalism school, nursing school, and engineering school rather than all the journalism school. I think this would help promote the mentoring scheme as more university wide rather than department specific and more applicable to everyone.
>>Under CELT > "Development" - I like the publicizing stuff, that is really good. I think under the eavulaution, you could also look at grades from pervious terms to see the difference...hopefully there would be some. It would also be great to get videos/testimonials at this point to use in future marketing. I also do not know if CELT would be responsible of some of the training, but they could provide generic training as far as what do do in emergencies, different teaching strategies, or even just break out sessions so that different mentors can exchange ideas with one another. This is similar to what you were staying with the bulletins and having the mentor of the week stuff. I think that during some of those meetings with mentors and staff, you can have informal feedback where they offer suggestions on what can be done differently, better, or any new ideas to apply to the mentoring schemes.
>>I do think that some training from the specific school is necessaryy because of the specific content looked at.
>>Under "celebration," I freaking love this idea. This provides good PR for the future and rewards the mentors and the staff. I would perhaps let the participating mentoring schemes know that this was happening at the beginning of the term and maybe even inform them of criteria for the award so that they have something to work towards.
>>At the end of the July period, lots of feedback would be nice to refine the program to make more decisions regarding ratining, promtion, expansion, etc.

I hope that helps and I bet you have thought of most of that already. Let me know if there is anything I can do or develop. I would be more than happy to help! (I kind of wish I was there helping...)

Thanks!

Kirk

PS I apologize for typos, grammatical errors etc...haha

Implementation Plan

Hi Kirk,

Just done this plan to show the stages we need to complete to be able to implement a trial of the mentoring scheme to be run in the new year. Not sure if you will be able to expand this, if not I can send you an email with an attached pdf. file or something. I can't think of much else for it at the moment as my mind as hit a bit of a brick wall this afternoon. Let us know if there is anything you feel we ought to consider,

bye for now,

Luke

Meeting 12/12/11

Hi Kirk,

just thought I'd keep you updated of the latest developments over here. We had a meeting today and I've tried to summarise some of the points discussed here.

Meeting on 12^th December 2011 to discuss the establishment of a mentoring scheme

Attending:

Stuart Brand

Luke Millard

Melissa Tisdale

Jamie Morris

Luke Nagle

Course of Discussion:

What is our goal for the first six/seven months of the mentoring scheme?

> At the end of the first six/seven months of the mentoring scheme we wish to be in a position where we can create some sort of celebration event and award ceremony to showcase the mentors and mentees work and development.

What do we need to be able to get to this position?

> Advertise the mentoring programme to students and staff to raise awareness of its establishment.

> Take applications and allocate funding for successful applications

> Publicise the mentoring schemes as they develop so that the rest of the university community are aware of what is happening.

How can we support and implement the programmes on-going development requirements?

> Establishment of a mentoring website the can be accessed externally but linked in to the Students Union and iCity. (UWE, Aston)
http://www1.aston.ac.uk/current-students/get-involved/peermentoring/
http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/students/studysupport/peerassistedlearning.aspx

> Creation of video clips, possibly animated, advertising benefits of the scheme. (PAL video UWE)

> Shout outs and leaflet hand outs (physical and electronic) at lectures, board of studies and via email to all staff and some students advertising programme and calling for applications.

> Creation of bi-weekly/monthly mentor of the week bullet-ins publicising what that mentor is doing, how they are doing it, positives and negatives etc. in a similar format to the weekly news updates on TigerTV or David Lynch’s Weather Report.

How do we decide what applications are worth funding over the ones that aren’t?

> Demonstration of partnership or student ownership.

> Favouring courses that fall below the satisfaction benchmark for NSS or those that have poor progression and retention figures.

> Favouring applications that address specific modules that are failing.

PAL scheme from UWE

Potential Mentoring Schemes

Potential Mentoring Schemes

            One on One Academic Assistance Mentoring

General Description

            Academic assistance for modules on a drop-in or appointment basis

Reflection of Principles

·         The mentees receive academic assistance, greater confidence, and movement towards academic independence. Mentors receive compensation, learning through teaching, and satisfaction. The institution retains and develops higher quality students.

·         The mentee develops academic skills that will foster development in a specific module and academic independence.   The mentor develops teaching, communication, content, and critical thinking skills.

·         The mentors will be available to students through different time sessions and hold the information disclosed in the session in confidence. The mentees will be willing to accept advice and information regarding the module content.

·         The mentoring will be flexible because each session can be tailored to the student to reflect their needs.  The process can be reviewed at the end of a session so that futures sessions will be more effective.

Hall Mentoring

General Description

This type of mentoring probably paired mentoring would focus on living experiences which would include nutrition, hygiene, finances, living conditions, substance abuse, sex, and relationships.  This type of mentoring would occur in the form of rounds and drop-in availability to all the residents.

Reflection of Principles

·         The mentees receive benefits in healthy habits, greater confidence, and skill development.  The mentors get compensation and job satisfaction.  The institution retains more students through a support system.

·         The mentees learn necessary living skills.   The mentors learn communication skills, conflict resolution, and interpersonal skills.

·         The mentors are approachable through room visits, easy communication channels, by being on site, and drop-in availability. 

·         The mentoring is flexible because of the different venues of contact and the changing of delivery based on the needs of the mentees.

General University Induction Mentoring

General Information

            This mentoring will induct students into their specific programme by taking the students on tours, meeting during the first couple of weeks, and allowing for drop-in times later in the term.  It will cover information about university services and academics that the mentees might not know.  This support will decrease over time to foster independence.

Reflection of Principles

·         The mentee gains knowledge and confidence about campus services and their academics.  The mentor furthers their knowledge of the university, establishes connections with staff, and receives compensation.  The institution retains more students through knowledge of campus services and maximizes the use of the campus services.

·         The mentee develops skills to be a productive and efficient student.  The mentor develops interpersonal and critical thinking skills.

·         This mentoring is approachable due to various class meetings and walk-in times.  The students are receptive to knowledge of the university.

·         This mentoring is flexible because the meetings and interactions can be changed to reflect the needs of the students. It would be best to assess the students early to discover what the students know and tailor the induction to match their needs.   The walk-in times will provide additional flexibility.

 

Discussion Group Mentoring

General Information

            This type of mentoring is associated to a specific module that will provide extra assistance with the module content.  The mentor will be an exceptional student that has taken the module before and will hold walk-in group sessions during the term to help with the content of the module. 

Reflection of the Principles

·         The mentee gains additional knowledge of content, better scores, and confidence. The mentor receives compensation, employability skills, and better academic knowledge of the module. The institution develops higher quality students and retains more students due to academic assistance.

·         The mentee develops academic skills that will help with other modules and critical thinking skills.  The mentor develops communication skills, problem-solving skills, and teaching skills.

·         This mentoring is approachable because the sessions are student led and non-threatening. The students have the option to participate in the mentoring.

·         The mentoring is flexible because the format of the discussion sessions can be altered to fit the needs of the mentees attending. These sessions allow for different questions on the content.

Employability Mentoring

General Information

            In this scheme, mentors will assist students in building their CVs and portfolios and offer advice in interviewing skills, careers, and internships.  The mentors will also provide a link between the mentees and alumni to increase networking. This type of mentoring will be appointment based with some walk-in availability.

Reflection of Principles

·         The mentee receives assistance to help with their future career and confidence. The mentor receives compensation and networking opportunities with alumni. The institution increases post-graduation placement rates and the institution develops a better image.

·         The mentee develops skills that will increase their employability.  The mentor develops communication skills, interpersonal skills, and employability skills.

·         This type of mentoring is more approachable because the mentors would be more relaxed with other students and are not so intimating. The sessions are easily available and can meet the time needs of the students.

·         This mentoring is flexible because the sessions can reflect the needs of the mentees when it comes to employability skills.  After the student leave, there will be reflection to improve services.

 

Teaching Assistant Mentoring

General Information

            The mentor provides assistance to an instructor in a specific module in the form of student help, course development, and lesson implementation.  This scheme would work particularly well in practical settings such as nursing or graphic design where the mentor could assist the students with their work.

Reflection of Principles

·         The mentees receive academic assistance, greater confidence, and movement towards academic independence. Mentors receive compensation, greater module knowledge, staff connections, and satisfaction. The institution retains and develops higher quality students, develops better modules, and receives higher student satisfaction and success.

·         The mentee develops critical thinking skills and greater module skills.  The mentor gains critical thinking skills, problem solving, interpersonal skills, and communication skills.

·         This mentoring is approachable because the mentor is willing to help and walks around assisting students.  Since the mentor is another student, that also allows the mentor to be more approachable.

·         This approach is flexible because the mentoring will change to reflect the needs of the students. The mentor provides feedback to the instructor and the module then reflects the different needs of the class.

eMentoring

General Information

            This mentoring scheme works with prospective students.  First and second year students would mentor the prospective students online about the process of selecting a university and transitioning the first year.  This would be done through emails and social media.

Reflection of Principles

·         The mentee gets information about collegiate life to help them make informed decisions.  The mentor gets satisfaction, compensation, and develops reflective practices.  The institution gains more prepared students thereby retaining them and helps attract more potential students.

·         The mentee develops critical thinking and problem-solving skills.  The mentor develops communication, interpersonal, problem-solving, and reflection skills.

·         The mentoring is approachable as social media is easily accessible and provides flexible time availabilities.

·         The mentoring is flexible because it reflects the needs of the student and can vary in time and media.

Principles

Principles

Mutual Benefit

Mentoring is a reciprocal relationship where the mentor, mentee, and institution benefit. These benefits can take the form of retention, achievement, confidence, compensation, knowledge, and skills.

Development of Skills

As part of the relationship, mentoring develops skills. These can be personal skills such as self-reflection, organization, time management, and perception and academic skills which include knowledge, critical thinking, and communication.

Approachability

Mentoring is an open relationship.  The mentor, mentee, and institution must be approachable.  The groups must serve in confidence and express a commitment of time and willingness to share and receive advice.

Flexibility

Mentoring must have a flexible framework around clear aims.  The flexibility allows for changes to better reflect the needs of the relationship and that processes need be reflected upon and made more effective. 

Diagram