Here we answer some questions for those who want to be mentors of the programme.
How to be a student mentor?
The School, with the assistance of the Vice Rector’s Office for Academic Organisation and Faculty and the University’s Alumni, Student and University Extension Office, will provide specific training for students who volunteer and are selected for the role of mentor.
From the student mentor’s point of view, the process will have two stages:
- Training stage: it will be carried out between June and September prior to the begining of the academic year.
- Mentoring stage: over the academic year period.
The training received and the volunteer activity carried out will be accredited. In addition, the university will be asked to grant ECTS credits for the mentoring students.
Training stage schedule:
For the annual training of mentors, the training stage is divided into two parts:
- June. It will consist on 4 or 5 hours sessions in the mornings, after the exams of the second semester, focused on the basic competences of emotional intelligence, both intrapersonal and interpersonal, and the organisation and management of time and study. The venue of these sessions will be informed in due time.
- September. With additional sessions before the start of classes, focused on communication and mentoring (with specific orientation for the MEET-Teleco programme). In this case, depending on the official class schedule, the sessions could be in the afternoons.
Throughout the course there will also be follow-up and orientation workshops for the mentors.
Note: the dates of the follow-up workshops will depend on the official university schedule and will be communicated in advance.
Mentoring stage schedule:
Four meetings per term between mentors and mentees will be scheduled at times compatible with classes. The specific dates will depend on the final academic calendar and will be communicated in advance.
I do not have much time, what do I commit to as a mentor?
If you sign up as a mentor, your specific commitments are as follows:
- Attend training courses and workshops.
- Lead the meetings with the mentees and cover the records of the meetings.
- Attend and participate in mentor coordination meetings.
Sounds good. Is it for me?
There are some requirements to become a mentor. We do not have the capacity to offer this training opportunity to the entire student body of the School, so a selection will be made from among those who express interest in participating in the programme. The basic conditions are:
- Being a student of the School and studying the second or third year of the Bachelor’s Degree in Telecommunication Technologies Engineering. The possibility is also contemplated for students of the master’s degree.
- Being able to participate in the mentoring stage (you will not have to, for example, if you are going to participate in a mobility programme ─Erasmus, ISEP, Seneca, etc.─ during the academic year).
Priority will be given to students who are more advanced in their studies. If necessary, a personal selection interview may take place.
Uhm, I’m interested! Where do I sign up?
If you wish to participate as a mentor, you must contact the PAT Coordination (teleco.pat@uvigo.es) before May of each academic year. In any case, you will receive a communication announcing this deadline from the coordination of the degree, during the second semester, when the recruitment process is opened. Once the participants have been chosen, you will be personally informed of the result of the selection process.
I still don’t totally understand it. Is there any more information?
If you would like more information about the programme, in general, or about any of its aspects, you can contact the Coordination of the Tutorial Action Plan of the School (teleco.pat@uvigo.es), to arrange a face-to-face or virtual meeting in which we will try to clarify all your doubts.
In any case, and in case you find it useful, below you have the testimony of a student who was a mentor in the EET, who tells us about her experience. If you watch the whole video, Laura talks about the need to have mentoring in higher courses, we already listened to her and now we have the orientaTE programme!