Drawing on research and best practices in the field of Mentorship, this page is meant to serve as a resource to assist Queen's staff, faculty or student groups in the development, implementation, or evaluation of their mentorship programs.
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Mentorship Program Development Toolkit
For each important step in the development of your mentorship program, you will find ideas, resources and templates that will help you design and implement high quality mentorship programming in a time-effective manner.
This toolkit has been developed with a focus on high-quality programming - considering all the aspects that impact a participant’s program experience and building practices and protocols that mitigate risks and ensure all participants enjoy a safe and positive mentoring experience.
- Ensure that your program meets the definition of Mentoring as described by best practices in the field.
- Do a thorough environmental scan to see what is already being offered at Queen's. Some well-established mentoring programs already exist (eg: QSuccess for first-year student transition or the Upper-Year Peer Mentor Program for upper-year students to give just a couple of examples).
- If your goals overlap with those of established programs, consider how a potential collaboration may be more beneficial rather than duplicating programming.
- If your program covers needs not currently met by existing programs, the next step is to consider what it takes to ensure your program is based in high quality principles so that participants have a safe and positive experience.
Developed by Mentor Canada's researchers and quality specialists, the Principles of Quality Mentoring Self-Assessment provides guidance on program development and can be used to support strategic planning or advocacy work or guide discussions with funders.
- Once the Self-Assessment Tool is completed, you can begin to create a Workplan for your Mentorship Program.
- I-EDIAA lens: Ensure that each of the steps in the programming cycle creates pathways for Indigenization, equity, diversity, inclusion, accessibility, and anti-racism.
Identify important people/connections that will help build/grow your program (eg: faculty connections who may be able to promote your program to students, training partners, etc)
- See the "Communications/Partnerships" tab in the Workplan template
- Ensure materials and resources are up-to-date and provide accurate information about program, role, responsibilities
- Create a detailed Job Description and ensure it is kept up-to-date
- Check out the QSuccess Mentor job description as an example
- Identify potential partners to support recruitment efforts
- Consider a variety of strategies for recruiting mentors (and mentees):
- Social media
- Outreach to faculty connected to potential participants
- Listservs
- Info booths in high-traffic locations
- Posters on campus
- Check out Career Services Student Hiring Toolkit for more resources, including Best Practices for I-EDIAA in Student Recruitment
- For paid positions, consider using Queen's Equity Appointment Process (QEAP) to track the diversity of your applicant pool and to attract and recruit members of designated groups.
- Use a Screening Matrix to select qualified candidates
- Prepare interview questions, including success criteria and scoring rubric
- Here's a potential Interview Template for your reference
- Determine risk factors/vulnerability of your mentees
- Consider requesting proof of background check-CPIC
- Have Mentors sign a Personal Integrity and Behaviour Agreement (HERE is an example)
- Prepare an offer letter/contract for successful candidates to sign
- Depending on the size of your mentor team, consider digital offer letters/electronic signature
When building your mentor training program, identify your training needs based on your program’s goals and objectives.
Potential training resources on campus:
- Student Experience Office (Eg: Mentorship Foundations; Lead, Include, Transform; Giving and Receiving Feedback; Bystander Intervention; Resources and Referrals, ACT-Action, Commitment, Transformation)
- Student Academic Success Services (Eg: Study Skills)
- Student Wellness Services (Eg: Identifying and Responding to Students in Distress, Self care for students leaders)
- Queen's University International Centre (Eg: Intercultural Awareness)
- Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Office (Eg: Responding to Disclosures)
- Career Services (Eg: Experiential Learning WrapAround)
- AODA
For more details and consultation on specific training content, contact Gabriela Ludusan.
- Develop an application form for mentees
- Ensure there are mechanisms in place to verify that prospective mentees fit the criteria
- Develop criteria for matching (Eg. academic background, needs/strengths, personality etc)
- Consider the value of self-matching in affirming mentor and mentee voice & choice in the matching process. Include options for self-matching wherever possible (Fast-Mentoring event, e-mentoring platform with self-matching capabilities)
- Match mentors/mentees based on interests/needs identified on application form
- Clearly communicate mentoring expectations to mentors and mentees
- Develop a Mentoring Agreement for mentors and mentees to discuss in intro meeting
| With support from the Mentor Canada Organization, mentoring programs can now access the secure e-mentoring platform MentorCity at no cost for the program or institution. MentorCity is an innovative e-solution for participant registration, matching and self-matching, communication, resource administration, program monitoring and reporting. For more details and next steps on how to use MentorCity for your mentoring program, contact Gabriela Ludusan. |
- Conduct regular mentor support meetings
- Offer ongoing opportunities for mentor engagement and development
- Share a variety of resources that are relevant and timely for mentees' needs
- Implement a mentor log system and monitor meeting logs (Eg: Qualtrics)
- Offer Mentors opportunities for reflection on skill development through the EL WrapAround
- Plan and implement mentor/mentee group activities on a regular basis
- Program liability and risk management:
- Safety measures should be clearly defined and mentors should receive appropriate training to understand them and to respond through appropriate protocols
- Have a mechanism to respond to students of concern or crisis situations in a timely fashion
- The Green Folder contains information about identifying and responding to students in distress
- Faculty or staff members can use the CARE referral process to get supports to students who are having difficulties or are in distress
- Keep all results from your volunteer screening process (background checks, references and interview notes) in a secure location. Create clear guidelines to document unusual incidents and any follow-up action taken
- Clearly define the mentoring site
- Develop a "no gift" policy to aid in boundary setting
- Establish a communication protocol with mentors and follow up with unresponsive mentors
- Establish a communication protocol for unresponsive/disengaged mentees
- Have a mechanism for early termination of concerning mentoring relationships
- Info on program start date and program end date should be communicated to mentors and mentees well ahead of time
- Reminder about program end date and final reminders should be communicated to participants (Eg: ensure all their meetings are logged etc)
- Encourage mentors and mentees to have a closure conversation
- Determine what outcomes to measure and evaluate
- Collect data on participants and mentors related to your outcomes
- Prepare and collect regular and end-of-cycle feedback from mentors and mentees
- Make sure to include quantitative and qualitative data
- Measure outcomes and conduct evaluation
- Write a final report
- Review program progress and refine as needed
- Celebrate and recognize the accomplishments of the program and mentors’/mentees' contributions
- Share the positive impact mentoring has on mentees
- Invite stakeholders
- Examples: In-person events and activities, social media "Mentor Highlight" campaigns, Mentee testimonials, Mentor Canada's January Mentoring Month
Contact Us
The Peer Programs Coordinator is a great resource to consult on your mentorship program, as well as answer questions and share her knowledge and experience. Gabriela coordinates the QSuccess Peer Mentorship Program, and is a leader in developing peer mentorship capacity on campus.
As a Mentor Educator and relationship-builder, she works collaboratively with colleagues across the Division of Student Affairs and campus wide to support a variety of programs and services aimed at supporting transition, leadership development and involvement through peer to peer support at Queen’s. She looks forward to supporting your mentorship related needs!
Gabriela Ludusan
Coordinator, Peer Programs, Student Experience Office
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