INTERNATIONAL STUDENT MENTORING PROGRAM HANDBOOK 2017
International Students Director’s Welcome
3
President’s Welcome
4
About the Program
5
What is Mentoring?
5
Benefits of Mentoring
5
Roles and Responsibilities
6
Participants’ Eligibility
6
Code of Conduct
7
One-On-One
8
Suggested Framework
8
Suggested Methods of Engagement
10
Guidelines for Closure
11
Feedback
13
Facilitators
13
Acknowledgement
13
Program Agreement
14
2
My name is Tiffany P. Monorom and I am the International Students Director for the Australian National University Law Students’ Society. On behalf of the ANU LSS, thank you for choosing to participate in the 2017 International Student Mentoring Program. We hope that the program will provide both mentor and mentee a rewarding experience. Through the International Student Mentoring Program, the LSS aims to assist international students in making a successful transition into law school and for mentors to develop valuable leadership skills and to enhance personal growth through mentoring. We understand that not all international students have access to or are aware of the resources available at the ANU and the ANU College of Law. The LSS seeks to fill this gap by offering support within a personal capacity. With that in mind, I hope that this Handbook will provide you with the resources you need to make the most of the program and hopefully build a long-lasting relationship with your mentee/mentor. In creating this Handbook, I would like to thank our contributors: Eddie Stewart (FirstYear Officer) for donating his time and effort to producing and editing the content, and Bryce Robinson (President) for his continuing support in the International Students portfolio. As this is our first time running the program, the LSS encourages you to share your thoughts and experiences with us in order to help shape how the program will be run in the future. In conclusion, I would like to present the 2017 International Student Mentoring Program Handbook and feel free to contact me should you have any questions.
Tiffany P. Monorom International Students Director ANU Law Students’ Society http://lssinternational@anu.edu.au
3
On behalf of the ANU Law Students’ Society, I would like to warmly welcome you to the International Student Mentoring Program. In acknowledgement of the unique challenges faced by international students studying law, the LSS is very proud to have reinstated the International Students Director as a permanent member of our Committee. Since being appointed to the role, Tiffany Monorom has worked tirelessly—together with one of our First-Year Officers, Eddie Stewart—to ensure that the LSS actively represents the interests of international students studying at the ANU College of Law. We are both proud and excited to launch the International Student Mentoring Program as one of the key endeavours of the International Students Director. The benefits of peer mentoring cannot be overstated. Not only is it an opportunity to gain practical advice, enhance your interpersonal skills and develop strategies for dealing with personal and academic issues, it also introduces you to vast personal and professional networks and empowers you to confidently make your own decisions. If you ever have any concerns, would like to get involved with the LSS, or have suggestions for things we could do to make your experience at the ANU College of Law even better, I invite you to contact me. I wish you all the best of luck with the mentoring program! Bryce Robinson President ANU Law Students’ Society lss@anu.edu.au
4
The International Student Mentoring Program is a program designed to assist international students for better transition into law school. Mentors are students who have successfully adjusted to law school and can give mentees advice on studying law at the ANU. We understand that moving to a new country is a challenging experience for most international students and it may take them some time to adjust to Australia’s cultural, social and academic differences. Pairing mentors and mentees effectively is a key aspect of a successful mentoring program, which is why participants will be hand-selected as according to their preferences. We will not pair a mentee with a mentor where their goals and expectations of the program do not align. Mentors and mentees are matched on a one-on-one basis and we advise that both participants commit to the same mentor or mentee for the entire semester. This encourages them to develop a mentoring relationship on a personal level and establishes a foundation where assistance is available when needed.
According to the National Mentoring Association of Australia, mentoring is “a mutually beneficial relationship which involves a more experienced person helping a less experienced person to achieve their goals”. However, we believe there is much more to the mentoring relationship. It is one based upon mutual trust and respect, open-mindedness, encouragement, constructive feedback and a willingness to learn and share. As such, the LSS expects all participants to get into the spirit of mentoring, that is making a genuine effort to engage with your partner.
Participating in a mentoring program is mutually beneficial for both mentors and mentees: Mentors • Develop leadership and management skills • Strengthen your own skills and knowledge of the subject matter • Improve communication and personal skills • Gain valued volunteering opportunity • Enhance your resume
5
•
Increase personal growth and a sense of fulfilment
Mentees • Gain practical advice, support and encouragement • Learn from other people’s experiences • Develop your social, academic and personal skills • Set realistic goals and establish a sense of direction • Become more confident and motivated • Make new friends across year levels
Share: Share your own life experiences that are most relevant to the mentee’s situation. Challenge: Ask thought provoking questions, aiming toward the mentee’s ambitions. Clarify: Encourage the mentee to be clear about decisions, goals and philosophy. Affirm: Value and endorse the mentee.
Mentees To make the most of the mentorship, mentees should take appropriate responsibility to speak up if there is an issue, and to be open to change and challenges. This can be done through mutual respect and self-reflection, signifying the ability to set goals and take actions. Take responsibility: Speak up if there is an issue, aiming for a successful mentorship.
Be open: Be open to change, challenges, opinions, and ideas.
Mentors The mentor’s role is to listen deeply, share their experience, ask difficult questions, encourage the mentee to clarify themselves, and affirm the mentee.
Reflect: Regularly reflect on what you have learnt and what you want to inquire next. Respect: Respect the experience, views and insights of the mentors. Set goals: Identify short-term and long-term goals. Act: Take actions on set goals.
Listen: Listen attentively and provide constructive feedback.
6
Mentors Mentors will ideally have experience in mentoring but is not a necessary requirement to become a mentor in this program. Most importantly, mentors have the desire to help others and it is this willingness to help others that outweighs any academic credentials or motivation for profit. Mentors come from a variety of backgrounds, but their character and ethical values are shared by all. These shared values are important in promoting achievement and inspiring positive attitudes among all law students. Leading by example is a great opportunity to become a positive influence. Sharing positive and negative life experiences with mentees is helpful and easier for them to grasp the principles that mentors believe in. Mentees Mentees are international students who find difficulties adjusting to the cultural, social and academic aspects of living in Australia. Mentees actively seek guidance and support from their mentors and do so in a respectful and professional manner. Mentees are eager to learn and willing to work with their mentors to set up goals in order to achieve their desired result through the mentoring program.
Like any professional and academic environment, mentors and mentees are to act ethically and respectfully toward one another. Discussions are confidential and we expect participants to behave appropriately at all times. Inappropriate conduct such as harassment or discrimination is strictly prohibited. Such behaviours will result in suspension from the program and may be the subject of complaint to the relevant regulatory body. The Australian National University’s Code of Conduct and related policies can be found online through this link: https://services.anu.edu.au/humanresources/respect-inclusion/code-ofconduct.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7
The following is only a suggested framework for participants to follow throughout the mentoring program. You may choose to follow the framework or create your own mentoring framework. Stage 1: Discussing Expectations and Goals A positive relationship between mentor and mentee is essential to the success of a mentoring program and for mentees to have genuine support at the start of their university career. The best way for mentors and mentees to develop such a meaningful relationship in the International Student Mentoring Program is through one-on-one contact. It is for this reason that the program will regularly run on a one mentor to one mentee basis from week to week. It is understandable that people have different commitments and separate daily schedules, so it is only required that you have one meeting per week for at least 30 minutes. Meetings are what you make of them. It will be up to the mentor and mentee to decide the best method to engage in the program. See some of our suggested methods on page 10. We cannot stress enough the importance of genuine, faceto-face contact and we hope that our suggested framework outlines how this is best established.
Mentors and mentees should discuss their expectations and goals in their first meeting in order to establish the foundations of the mentorship. The program facilitators will provide mentors and mentees with contact details so you can arrange your first meeting, which commences in week 6. We strongly advise that the first meeting is organised at the Mentoring program Induction in week 5. It is up to both participants as to the method by which you can maintain contact such as via email, text messages or Facebook. It can be quite daunting for both the mentor and mentee to arrange their first meeting. Therefore, we advise that you start off with a casual meet-up— a coffee or a meal at the pop-up village, for example. Once you have decided on a meeting time and place, the most important thing for establishing a fun and supportive relationship between mentor and mentee is getting to know each other first. If you find yourself in an awkward situation, talk about why you are interested in the mentoring program
8
and what you want out of the program or any similar struggles that you have had as a university student. Once you feel more at ease with each other, you may begin to establish your expectations and goals in the program to ensure a successful mentorship in the long run. It is understandable that both participants will inevitably have different commitments so the best way would be to determine how, where and when meetings will take place in future weeks. One idea would be to make a schedule outlining your plan for the rest of the semester, keeping in mind when (if at all) you will be travelling outside Canberra and working your meetings around these dates. If either mentor or mentee is unavailable for one week during the program, arrange a Skype, FaceTime or phone call at some point.
mentors, do the same, but think of advice that you might give to your mentee - is there something you would’ve done differently had you the chance? What would you like to have known about the topic when you were in your mentee’s position? If you find that neither participant has a lot to say regarding the theme and that the mentee does not have any general queries, try to find a common interest to have a chat about - sports, food, gaming etc. Even if mentees do not need any advice and mentors have limited advice to give, it is important to keep maintaining the relationship as you only meet once a week. Stage 3: Examining the Progress
Stage 2: Establishing the Relationship Subsequent meetings should be focusing on mentees addressing their issues and mentors providing advice and encouragements. The program facilitators will provide a suggested weekly theme (via email) that is relevant to international students (that may or may not be specifically relevant to law students). For mentees, try to think about how the theme relates to your experience at university and your goals and aspirations in Australia. If you are unsure about anything or you have questions, ask your mentor - they will either be able to help you directly or refer you to someone who can. For
In week 9, the program facilitators will be in touch with all participants about any progress made in the program and whether there were any issues experienced by either mentor or mentee. The following are some issues to think about prior to meeting the program facilitators: Regularity of meetings: Are you both attending and organising meetings?
9
Addressing themes: Are you both referring to weekly themes and discussing them? General conversation: Did you experience any awkward silence and blanks during meetings? General meetings: Are you enjoying yourself at meetings? Are you comfortable? Are you dissatisfied with your mentor/mentee in any capacity? Others: Have there been any disputes worth mentioning?
There is no obligation to arrange a special occasion like this, but we strongly recommend doing so.
It is up to both participants to organise a method of engagement to keep the program interesting. Our suggested methods below are a good starting point.
Any information shared with the program facilitators will be strictly confidential and we advise that you remain as honest as possible when discussing your relationship with your mentor/mentee. Stage 4: Wrapping up By the end of the semester, you will hopefully have established a friendship that may last throughout the rest of your university days and we hope that this ‘final meeting’ is not actually your last. However, it is still very important that you conclude the program well and to do this, we advise arranging a special occasion for your last meeting together. If you have been having coffee together regularly, perhaps this can be a more adventurous meeting - a bush walk or a jog together, for instance. If you are both avid sports fans, maybe consider attending a game together. If you have been adventurous throughout the program and hiked up every mountain in Canberra and ran around the lake a thousand times, maybe pick something more relaxed and settled.
Classic Meeting each other for a coffee, brunch or any meal at the pop-up village would be the easiest and most ideal way for those who are on tight schedules at university. Although it may be easy, this doesn’t mean you can’t get a lot out of it - some of the best conversation happens over a good coffee. Another idea to consider is maybe to organise a new place to go each week and judge which cafe has the best coffee. Feeling adventurous If you enjoy a more outdoor scene, bush walking might be an idea to consider.
10
There are many places in the surrounds of Canberra where you can hike or walk through the bush. One of the best locations is Black Mountain – it is located close to ANU and it is a rewarding challenge if you want to hike to the lookout. Any of the other ‘mountains’ in Canberra - Mt Ainslie, Red Hill, Mt Stromlo - are also great options for a challenging hike. Make sure you pack sufficient water and food and also conduct a bit of research about the trails first before you head off for a hike. Seg Glide Ride in Parkes (suburb in inner south) offers segways for hire around the lake. This is more likely to be a one-off meeting as it costs around $40 for a half an hour trip ($60 for full hour), but it’s definitely worth the cost! Located right next to ANU, the Botanic gardens is a perfect spot suitable for anyone who loves flora or the outdoors, or anyone that needs a quick break from campus. It is free to enter and stays open from 8:30AM to 5PM daily. There is also a cafe open from 9AM-3PM every day if you feel like a coffee or quick bite to eat. Sporty If you feel like sweating off some stress from university, a quick sport game or exercise may be a great way to start. We suggest running or cycling around the lake, using ANU gym for basketball, weights, futsal or badminton or using ANU ovals for ball sports or Frisbee.
Volunteer Volunteer together for a great cause— either working at the animal shelter or advocating for human rights or helping with recreational activities at a local hospital. Contact ANU+, ANU Volunteering Society or Volunteering ACT for available opportunities.
It is understandable that a mentor or mentee may require that the mentorship end before the end of the program. However, the following guidelines will be strictly followed:
Either party may close the mentorship at any point during the program, if: • program coordinators are notified of closure 48 hours before next scheduled meeting.
11
In the case of non-mutual early closure: • the closing party may request the program coordinators to inform their mentor or mentee, or they may inform their mentor or mentee themselves. • a mentor or mentee may elect to stay in the program if their partner closes the mentorship early, if: o both parties of another mentorship allow that mentor or mentee to join them, or; o another mentor or mentee is available on the program waitlist, (in the case of multiple possible mentors or mentees, they will be selected according to the criteria used at the beginning of the program).
12
As this is the first time that a mentoring program is being facilitated by the LSS, we value feedback from both mentors and mentees regarding the program. We want to know what worked and what can be improved in order to help shape how the program will run in the future. We welcome feedback throughout the program by contacting the program facilitators. The LSS will also issue a comprehensive feedback to mentors and mentees upon completion of the program.
Tiffany P. Monorom LSS International Students Director The Australian National University lssinternational@anu.edu.au Eddie Stewart LSS First-Year Officer The Australian National University u5766542@anu.edu.au
The LSS would like to extend our gratitude to the mentors for contributing to the program by offering your time and effort to help international students to make a successful transition to law school. We hope that you find the mentoring program a valuable experience and that students who benefit from the mentoring program will consider returning to the program to mentor others.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
13
Mentor and mentee, Please complete this agreement at the program induction and submit form to a program facilitator: We, _________________________________________________________________________ And _________________________________________________________________________ voluntarily commit to the ANU LSS International Student Mentoring Program held throughout weeks 6 to 12 of Semester 2, 2017. We will: — meet once a week for a period of at least half an hour — report progress to program coordinators at the end of week 9 (upon contact from program facilitators) — contribute to meetings in a constructive manner at all times — maintain genuine interest in the program — conduct ourselves respectfully and act in an honest way in consideration of our mentor/mentee’s needs — at meetings, address weekly themes provided by program facilitators — hold confidentiality with regard to any matter discussed between us, unless advised otherwise by our mentor/mentee and — complete a survey for evaluation at the end of the program. We understand and acknowledge that either mentor or mentee has the right to discontinue mentorship at any point throughout the program and if this is applicable, the guidelines for closure provided in the program Handbook will be strictly followed. Signed: __________________________ __________________________ Name: _________________________________________ _________________________________________
Date:____/_____/___
14