Enhancing the University-wide mentoring scheme

The University-wide mentoring scheme is run by OD&PL and from May to September 2023 applications were closed to allow us to make some changes to the scheme which would enhance your experience further, as either a mentor or mentee.

The scheme is available to all staff and you can apply to be a mentor and/or mentee. Applications are open throughout the year and we match mentoring partnerships twice a year in May and November.

Read on to find out more about some of the changes we’ve made:

Extended mentoring duration 

From November 2023, mentoring partnerships will be matched for 9 months instead of 6 months. Following a review of the mentoring scheme and holding discussions with both mentors and mentees, the most referenced feedback was that the duration of mentoring partnerships are too short. By extending the partnerships we hope you will be able to get more out of your experience. We will still match mentoring pairs twice per year in May and November and you won’t be expected to support more than one mentee at a time.

Updated mentor profiles to capture more information

The previous application form captured limited information about our mentors – who we know have a wealth of knowledge and experience that mentees could benefit from. Our updated application form will capture more detail about our mentors’ experience, skills and areas of expertise to help us more effectively match beneficial partnerships. Guidance about what mentees frequently seek support is also available to help mentors fill out the form. This will help you recognise knowledge, skills and experience that mentees highly value, but you may not have considered.

Introductory partnership meetings

We’re now recommending all partnerships start with an introductory meeting before making a final decision to go ahead with mentoring. We recommend this initial meeting between mentors and mentees to help them get to know each other and to provide a chance to explain what they hope to get out of the experience. It also gives an opportunity to check that both the mentor and mentee feel the match is right based on what you’re each hoping to get from the experience. If for any reason it isn’t, we can then look to rematch where possible.

New development opportunities for mentors

Additional support will also be available for mentors to help them prepare for their partnerships. This includes:

• Facilitated reflection workshops aligned to the start and end of cycles, allowing mentors to share experiences and best practice and benefit from peer support of other mentors
• Bitesized lunch & learn sessions on mentoring topics
• Developing a new ‘Enhancing your Mentoring Practice’ workshop to compliment the ‘Preparing for Mentorship’ workshops

You can find out more about the resources on our mentoring webpage on the OD&PL Leadership & Professional Practice website.