My mentoring style is pretty chatty! lol. Facilitating initial discussion aside (which can be difficult) I normally get a lot of questions on the mentoring day, then one or two emails after that. Time-wise, mentoring doesn't require very much aside from the training days + orientation day.
I don't know why post-orientation contact seems to not happen very much. I was one of those mentees that bonded really closely with their mentor - we did subjects together, I went to her 21st, heck I even talked to them on the phone today lol - although in my defence, I made an effort on orientation day to be friendly and outgoing. I guess it's a two-way street.
Bonding aside, it could also be because us mentors are trained to give a really in-depth tour.
kami said:
How much training do you get exactly? (I wasn't/won't be on campus a whole lot so I don't know all the buildings and services inside out.)
A lot of the training is based around group-orientated communication/games, and a general "how to"/"here's a list of things we want you to do on orientation day" (they won't tell you what to say). They will tell you where to go and make sure every mentor has a map, however it is
assumed knowledge that you have a fairly good working knowledge of the campus and its services (not to mention particulars about your division). On training day, Sandy pretty much just says stuff like "When you take them to the SES building, make sure you show them where all the forms are and explain how to apply for Parking Permits and what not,
and all that kind of stuff"
Now, it doesn't mean you have to know MQ upside down and inside out (I belong in this category, lol) but you have to remember that the mentees have already got a map, so they know how to find their way around, even though you'll take them on a tour anyway. What they really want/need to know is how to best adapt to uni
life. If you weren't/aren't on campus very often, then this could be a problem area...
Just to add to what Rob has said - in addition to knowing where stuff is, you will be expected to answer any and all questions about it (this isn't really covered in training - you're on your own here). Personally, I like to run off a list of possible scenarios and what to do in really weird situations (like what to do if you can't remember your tutor's name/room, or the stapler has gone missing! lol). More typical examples are mentees wanting to know where Mac Centre is, how to get to it, how long the walk takes etc, or best times/places to park and what to do if they can't find parking on-campus, where the parking ticket machines are and so on. A lot of the things you talk about on Orientation Day will be based on personal experiences/knowledge you picked up from roughing it as a student.
