Who can be a mentor? What can mentors expect from the Physics Mentoring Program?
- Anyone can be a mentor. We especially encourage third year undergrads and above (including all grad students) to become mentors.
Who can be a mentee? What can mentees expect from the Physics Mentoring Program?
- Anyone can be a mentee.
Who will mentees be mentored by? Will mentees be grouped with someone with similar identities?
- Organizers will do their best to group mentees with mentors in accordance with anything that mentees have specified in the mentoring sign-up form in the section for comments/requests/feedback. In addition, organizers will look for mentors and mentees with similar research interests, career interests, and other commonalities in sign-up forms.
What can mentors and mentees expect? How often do mentors and mentees meet? What do mentors and mentees discuss at meetings?
- Mentors and mentees commit to their mentoring group for the academic year, i.e. mentoring groups started in Fall 2023, Winter 2024, and Spring 2024 are expected to continue in the mentoring program until the end of Spring quarter 2024. At the start of a new academic year, mentoring groups are asked if they would like to continue in the program, and if so, if they would like to remain in the same mentoring group.
- Mentoring groups will fill out a mentoring agreement (example mentoring agreement) which will establish how often they meet. It is typical for mentoring groups to meet every 2-3 weeks, but it should be emphasized that the frequency of meetings is determined by a discussion between mentor and mentee when completing the mentoring agreement.
- The mentoring agreement includes a question about which topics mentors and mentees would like to discuss, their shared goals, etc. When mentees fill out the sign-up form, they will indicate topics they would like to learn more about from a mentor (mentees are sent a copy of their responses). It is recommended to refer to these when discussing the mentoring agreement.
Will mentors help with homework?
- No. Refer to other campus resources, such as LSS.
What if my mentor or mentee is unresponsive?
- Contact the organizers at physics-mentoring-group@ucsc.edu to make them aware of the situation.