What is the mentoring scheme?
This scheme is founded on the principles that experienced academic colleagues are best placed to help staff identify and connect with a suitable mentor, and that supporting less experienced colleagues by mentoring is a fundamental feature of an academic role. Organisation of the process is therefore rooted in the academic community, with a light administrative oversight and support for co-ordinators and mentors to develop the necessary skills and networks.
Definitions
Mentors in this context provide informal support for colleagues in their career and welfare. It is distinct from the mentors assigned to probationary lecturers who have a specific role. Mentoring is best performed by someone who has trodden the path of the mentee before them, whether this refers to the whole scope of an academic career, broader experience outside the University, or a specific current concern.
The Education and Research Job Family includes lecturers, senior lecturers, readers, professors, research assistants and research fellows.
Eligibility
The scheme is open to all Education and Research Staff who have completed probation. It is a voluntary, developmental scheme unconnected to career progression.
Process: finding a mentor or offering to be a mentor
Any member of Education and Research staff (academics, researchers and teaching fellows) who wishes to find a mentor, or who wishes to offer their services as a mentor, should contact their departmental / School mentoring co-ordinator in the first instance. Some departments may have arrangements specific to different groups, for example research associates, which are managed locally.
Departmental mentoring co-ordinators
| Department | Co-ordinator |
|---|---|
| Department of Architecture & Civil Engineering | Prof Andrew Heath |
| Department of Biology & Biochemistry | Prof David Tosh & Prof Adele Murrell |
| Department of Chemical Engineering | Prof John Chew |
| Department of Chemistry | Dr Adam Squires |
| Department of Computer Science | Prof Jason Alexander |
| Department of Economics | Dr Peter Postl |
| Department of Education | Elisabeth Barratt-Hacking |
| Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering | Prof Cathryn Mitchell |
| Department for Health | Prof Fiona Gillison |
| School of Management | Prof Mairi Maclean |
| Department of Mathematical Sciences | Dr Lucia Scardia |
| Department of Mechanical Engineering | Debbie Janson (academic staff) and Dr Nicola Bailey (PDRAs) |
| Department of Pharmacy & Pharmacology | Prof Steve Husbands |
| Department of Physics | Prof Dmitry Skryabin |
| Department of Politics, Languages & International Studies | Dr Paul Higate |
| Department of Psychology | Prof Paul Bain |
| Department of Social & Policy Sciences | Dr Kate Gooch |
General guidance on establishing a mentoring relationship, and the skills and behaviours required for successful mentoring, can be found at: Resources to support mentoring.