Mentor Resources

 

Mentor Responsibilities and Setting Mutual Expectations

The following document contains techniques and skills that will make your relationship with your mentee more effective. Please review each category to get into a mindset of growth and development. If you have any questions about any of these sections, please let us know. Additionally, if at any point during a mentor/mentee relationship you no longer feel comfortable, please contact PPHC@ttu.edu and step back from the program. You should never feel pressure to continue a relationship that violates your personal boundaries.

Mentor Responsibilities

Mentor responsibilities will vary depending on the mentee and on the relationship that a pair establishes throughout a program. Primarily your focus as a mentor should be on: generating connections, sharing knowledge, providing support, and giving feedback. Additionally your responsibilities may also extend to: goal setting, asking questions, providing accountability, coaching, setting boundaries, and respecting confidentiality.  

Before you begin working with your mentee in depth, it is important to consider and set boundaries for the type of relationship that you want to foster. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has a mentoring program that has a great resource for maintaining boundaries in a mentoring relationship. Boundaries are great for structuring your time, so that your interactions are more effective and also setting clear expectations so you both have clear lines of what is and isn’t within the scope of your responsibilities. 

Together with your mentee you should discuss your responsibilities. Discuss what you can and cannot do for them. Talk about how frequently you can meet and how long those meetings are expected to be. You can also discuss expectations for those meetings, i.e., asking the mentee to come prepared with questions and discussion topics they want to cover. You can also discuss privacy/confidentiality and what should and shouldn’t be carried outside of a meeting (don’t assume that your expectation of confidentiality will be the same as someone else’s). 

• Mentors, before meeting with your mentee consider what kind of access you’d like your mentee to have to you. What are your limits? Be sure to communicate those expectations to your mentee.

Training and Development

Critical Mentoring Skills

From a booklet entitled "Skills for Successful Mentoring" by Linda Phillips-Jones, Ph.D., several skills are listed as necessary for both mentors and mentees, as well as an intersection of those skills for an effective mentor relationship. According to Dr. Jones, mentors should be all of the following:

• Active listeners
• Encouraging
• Building Trust
• Identifying Goals
• Inspiring
• Providing Feedback
• Managing Risks
• Opening Doors

For more details on these topics please check out Dr. Jones' booklet, which has detailed descriptions and suggestions on each category. 

Cultural Competency

The following information is directly referenced and adapted from PennState in their article by Suzanna Windon, Ph.D. on “What is Cultural Competence and How to Develop It?”

Developing the skills to effectively communicate across cultures is essential to mentorship. Without a proper understanding of differences and how to navigate them, misunderstandings and disconnections can occur that make guidance and support ineffective.

According to Dr. Windon there are several ways to “practice effective communication in intercultural situations: 

• Practice openness by demonstrating acceptance of difference.
• Be flexible by demonstrating acceptance of ambiguity.
• Demonstrate humility through suspension of judgment and the ability to learn.
• Be sensitive to others by appreciating cultural differences.
• Show a spirit of adventure by showing curiosity and seeing opportunities in different situations.
• Use a sense of humor through the ability to laugh at ourselves.
• Practice positive change or action by demonstrating a successful interaction with the identified culture.”

Providing Constructive Feedback

Champlain College has a great resource for giving constructive feedback. As a mentor you will be guiding a younger peer through some big decisions and setting expectations as they consider their future professional program and career. At times it will be necessary to adjust their expectations, or to connect their current reality to their expected outcome. In those moments it would be helpful to know how to give constructive feedback. The following categories have been pulled from an article by Champlain College Online called “How to give Constructive Feedback in the Workplace.”

• Establish Trust, Be reliable and establish a pattern of being available and willing to listen non-judgmentally. Take prompt action when necessary and own up to any mistakes.
• Balance the Positive and the Negative, Address positives anytime you also need to bring up potential negatives. Mentees will need to see what their strengths are so they can work on their weaknesses
• Observe, Don’t Interpret, Be an active listener and respectful of perspectives different than your own. Keep advice and observations as objective as possible and understand that what you know may not apply broadly to your mentee’s specific situation.
• Be Specific, If you are giving advice try to give actionable steps, rather than vague thoughts or ideas. For example, mentees may already know they need to get shadowing hours, but maybe they have no idea where to start. Give some suggestions on where you found shadowing or clinical experience and how you approached those situations.  
• Don’t Make it Personal, You and your mentee may have different personalities, cultures, identities, and/or experiences. They may not take your advice in the way that you visualize or respond to the way you communicate. Try not to take anything personally, and instead work together to find effective ways of communicating. Be respectful and never let your emotions get in the way of supporting your mentee. If you find yourself resorting to emotional responses and/or personal attacks from yourself or from your mentee, take a step back and involve a PPHC representative as soon as possible.
• Provide Feedback Consistently, Follow-up on your advice. Set clear expectations with your mentee, and ask them what goals they have, and what they’ve done recently to achieve them. 
• Be Timely, consider the best time and place for advice, feedback, or simply providing a listening ear. Not everything needs to be ‘fixed’ sometimes mentees just need to vent. If feedback, correction, or advice does need to be given, consider your surroundings. If you are in a group of people, it may be better to address the issue privately and not in front of others.

Program Policies and Procedures

Conduct

As a participant in a TTU Main Campus program please adhere to the TTU code of conduct.

Reporting Expectations

As an outside entity of TTU Main Campus, you are not a mandated reporter. However, if you have any concerns, please contact PPHC@ttu.edu and we can complete a Student of Concern form to provide resources and aid to your mentee.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality is implicit in your participation in the PPHC Mentor Program. As a mentor, you are not allowed to share information, especially identifying or contact information, outside of your partnership within this program. Just because an outside entity may claim to know your mentee (even as a parent or spouse) that person is not entitled to information shared in your meetings or interactions. It is also important to discuss your personal expectations for confidentiality as well. Let your mentee know what you do not want shared outside of your conversations. That said, if you, as a mentor, suspect that a student may be a danger either to themselves or others please contact PPHC@ttu.edu, or 911 in the case of an imediate threat or emergency.

Conflict Resolution

Should any issues arise please contact PPHC@ttu.edu and we will be able to assist with resolution, or with next steps to address the problem.

Emergency Contacts

For emergencies that are directly and immediately life threatening please call 911. For legal concerns that are not an immediate threat you may call the campus police at 806-742-3931. For other concerns please email PPHC@ttu.edu. We are also available by phone during office hours Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm at 806-742-2189.

Support Resources

Connecting Students of Concern to Additional Resources

• Mental health resources
• Student Counseling Center
• Women’s Protective Services of Lubbock
• Crisis Support and Reporting

Connecting Students to Learning Resources

• Campus Resources
• Tutoring