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NUI galway academic mentoring scheme
frequently asked questions
What is the purpose of academic mentoring at NUI Galway and who is it aimed at?
What is mentoring?
Who is responsible for initiating contact?
Are mentoring discussions confidential?
What are the differences between mentoring and coaching?
What are the benefits of mentoring for the mentee?
What are the benefits of mentoring for the mentor?
What is the role of the mentee?
What is the role of the mentor?
What other roles and responsibilities are there within the academic mentoring scheme?
What does it take to be a good mentor?
How does the mentoring process work?
Who co-ordinates the Mentoring Programme?
How can I become involved as a mentor or a mentee?
Is training provided?
How are mentors and mentees matched?
Do I need to complete any paperwork?
What should we cover in the first meeting?
How long does mentoring last?
What happens if I don’t ’click’ with my mentor / mentee?
What happens after the mentoring ends?
frequently asked questions
What is the purpose of academic mentoring at NUI Galway and who is it aimed at?
The purpose of Academic Mentoring is to support the professional growth of the individual who is in the early stage of their career and to promote excellence in teaching and learning, research and academic leadership.
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What is mentoring?
Mentoring is the process by which a mentor empowers a mentee to build their skills and to achieve their career goals. Support is offered at NUIG through a partnership of senior staff members and early career colleagues with the aim of developing staff to release their potential.
Mentoring in NUIG may be defined as:
’off-line help by one person to another in making significant transitions in knowledge, work or thinking’
(Clutterbuck, 1990)
Mentoring is described as 'off-line', meaning that the mentor does not evaluate the current work of their mentee. As such, the mentee’s Head of School should not be their mentor.
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Who is responsible for initiating contact?
Ownership of the mentoring process rests with the mentee and s/he drives the mentoring agenda. The mentee is responsible for initiating contact with the mentor.
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Are mentoring discussions confidential?
The mentoring relationship is confidential. Discussions between the mentor and mentee must not be divulged to a third party without the agreement of both parties.
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What are the differences between mentoring and coaching?
What are the differences between mentoring and coaching?
What are the benefits of mentoring for the mentee?
- Enhancement of induction for new staff and accelerate their learning curve
- Increase in clarity and management of career goals
- Opportunity to have own thinking and beliefs challenged
- Development of a wider network of influence through engagement with their mentor
- Provision of time and space to reflect, develop insight, increase self-awareness and confidence
- Increase in productivity, effectiveness and contribution to career goals
- Support in managing and developing relationships with others
- Gain insight into the culture of NUIG, its formal and informal structure and how it operates
What are the benefits of mentoring for the mentor?
- Development of a new set of skills and additional learning acquired from the relationship
- Contact with early career academic staff and familiarisation with their career development
- Opportunity for reflective space and to gain personal insight
- Satisfaction of developing colleagues and helping them succeed
What is the role of the mentee?
- Taking ownership of the mentoring process and driving the mentoring agenda
- Being open and honest in discussing with their mentor what they would like to achieve from the relationship
- Seeking to achieve mutual respect and trust with their mentor for the duration of the mentoring relationship
- Willing to engage in career development opportunities
What is the role of the mentor?
It is the responsibility of the mentor to:
- Maintaining a constructive approach with focus on the development of the mentee
- Seeking to build mutual trust and respect
- Being accessible and available to their mentee in the agreed context
- Empowering the mentee to take responsibility for their own learning and career development
- Offering a safe environment to the mentee within which they can discuss work-related issues and explore solutions
Other roles and responsibilities within the Academic Mentoring Scheme
The College, School and HR have a number of responsibilities to ensure that local mentoring successfully supports the career development of early career academics.
What is the role of the College Mentor Board?
The College Mentor Board is responsible for inviting and supporting suitable mentors, in consultation with Heads of Schools, as appropriate
What is the role of the College Office?
The College Office is responsible for ensuring that mentoring support is facilitated locally and any administrative responsibilities required at a local level are met
What is the role of the mentee's Line Manager?
While it is not possible for a mentee’s line manager to also be their mentor, it is their responsibility to facilitate the mentoring programme and through it, enable the development of early career colleagues. Line managers are required to meet with mentees in advance of their participating in the mentoring programme and have a three-way meeting with the mentor and mentee at the beginning of the mentoring relationship. This includes encouraging mentors and mentees to engage with the process.
What is the role of the Dean of College?
The College Dean acts as a local champion for academic mentoring. They are also required to monitor mentoring locally to ensure its success in the long term.
What is the role of the HR?
It is the responsibility of HR to co-ordinate the mentoring process and relevant support and training. The Organisation and Staff Development Unit will develop coaching and mentoring initiatives to meet emerging NUIG needs such as First 100 Days. HR will liaise with senior academic colleagues to gain local support for the mentoring programme. They will gather feedback on the mentoring programme from participants and make modifications, as appropriate.
What does it take to be a good mentor?
Mentoring Skills Checklist – Assessing Your Style as a Mentor
How does the mentoring process work?
An overview of the mentoring process at NUI Galway can be found in the document attached below
The mentoring process at NUI Galway
(i) How to get involved
The mentoring programme at NUIG is open to all academic staff and all new academic recruits. Staff who are interested in becoming mentors or mentees should consult with their College Dean, Head of School and the HR Office to support them through the process.
• Mentor Profile: The mentor is an academic who has a proven track record in research, teaching and academic leadership
• Mentee Profile: The mentee is typically an early or mid career academic or a new recruit to NUIG
(ii) Support and Training
All new mentees and mentors will be offered mentoring support and training prior to beginning a mentoring relationship. Further details on training will be available from the Organisation and Staff Development Unit
(iii) Pairing of Mentors and Mentees
Mentees will be able to select a mentor match based on a potential fit to their needs. Mentees can select mentors from any school, college or discipline, subject to availability. If the first choice mentor is unavailable, HR will offer support through pairing them with an alternative mentor.
(iv) Mentoring Meeting Format
- At the beginning of any mentoring relationship, both the mentor and the mentee will agree and sign the NUIG mentoring contract. This will include the ground rules and code of ethics
- It is the responsibility of the mentee to drive the mentoring relationship
- A suggested format and topics for discussion for the Initial Mentoring Meeting are attached
- The mentee’s development goals and actions will be agreed early in the relationship and will then be progressed from that starting point
- The mentoring relationship typically continues for 12 months with scheduled quarterly meetings, unless there is mutual agreement between mentor and mentee that there should be greater frequency of meetings or if the relationship should last longer
- Although the relationship tends to be informal, a record should be kept of points discussed and actions agreed in the mentoring meetings. A summary of actions and goals agreed in each meeting should be recorded on the Record of Mentoring Meetings form
- If the mentoring relationship is not working or cannot be sustained for any reason, the mentor and mentee may ask the Organisation and Staff Development team to find alternative matches for either or both parties
(v) Follow-Up
- Following the natural end to a mentoring relationship, the Organisation and Staff Development team will arrange meetings with mentors to share general insights gained from the mentoring relationships and to identify any changes needed to the programme. These discussions will not breach the confidentiality of the individual mentoring relationships.
- Feedback will also be gathered from mentees via an online questionnaire. Feedback will be analysed collectively and refinements to the process made, where appropriate.
Who co-ordinates the Mentoring Programme?
The mentoring programme is co-ordinated between the HR team and your local College Office
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How can I become involved as a mentor or a mentee?
The mentoring programme at NUIG is open to all academic staff and all new academic recruits. Staff who are interested in becoming mentors or mentees should consult with their College Dean, Head of School and the HR Office to support them through the process.
The mentor is an academic who has a proven track record in research, teaching and academic leadership.
The mentee is typically an early or mid career academic or a new recruit to NUIG.
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Is training provided?
All new mentees and mentors will be offered mentoring support and training prior to beginning a mentoring relationship. Further details on training will be available from the Organisation and Staff Development Unit.
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How are mentors and mentees matched?
Mentees will be able to select a mentor match based on a potential fit to their needs. Mentees can select mentors from any school, college or discipline, subject to availability. If the first choice mentor is unavailable, HR will offer support through pairing them with an alternative mentor.
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Do I need to complete any paperwork?
At the beginning of any mentoring relationship, both the mentor and the mentee will agree and sign the NUIG mentoring contract. You should also record a summary of agreed actions and goals in each meeting using the Record of Mentoring Meetings template.
What should we cover in the first meeting?
How long does mentoring last?
The mentoring relationship typically continues for 12 months with scheduled quarterly meetings, unless there is mutual agreement between mentor and mentee that there should be greater frequency of meetings or if the relationship should last longer.
What happens if I don’t ’click’ with my mentor / mentee?
Occasionally a mentor and mentee do not ’click’. This sometimes happens and there is no value in remaining in a mentoring relationship that is not working. If the mentoring relationship is not working or cannot be sustained for any reason, there is no problem in asking the Organisation and Staff Development team to find alternative matches for either or both parties
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What happens after the mentoring ends?
Following the natural end to a mentoring relationship, the Organisation and Staff Development team will gather feedback from mentors and mentees to share insight and to identify any changes needed to the programme. These discussions will not breach the confidentiality of the individual mentoring relationships.
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This page was last updated Wednesday, April 13, 2011