Mentoring program

Aim

To provide a facilitated mentoring program to meet the development needs of professionals at all levels.

Definition

Mentoring is defined (by Margo Murray 1991) as a 'deliberate pairing of a more skilled or experienced person with a lesser-skilled or experienced one, with the agreed upon goal of having the lesser-skilled person grow and develop specific competencies'.

Program structure

The ALIA Tasmania program is structured as follows:

General guidelines are provided for both mentors and mentees
Formal pairings are negotiated by the mentoring committee
Written agreements are established for each pairing so that both partners have a reference point for their relationship and expectations
Set timeframes operate
the program will commence in March and conclude in November
intakes of participants are at set intervals rather than continuously
agreements are for limited terms rather than open-ended
staged events include the Launch, which provides orientation and training for mentees and mentors, and follow up schedule
evaluation mechanisms for both experience and progress are used.
Facilitation is provided by the mentoring committee which is responsible for organisation, negotiation, monitoring and problem-solving

Partnerships may range from highly-specific, limited term, skill-oriented agreements to ones which are more generally developmental. In the latter case some specific objectives and initial timeframes should still be identified.

Eligibility

All mentees must be current members of ALIA or agree to commit to membership of ALIA before the program commences. Mentors may be non-members however preference may be given to ALIA members when determining pairings.

Participants must be qualified (librarians or library technicians). Students, whether employed or not, become eligible only following graduation. A separate group mentoring program will be available to students.

It is desirable that participants be employed since employment provides the most apparent operational framework for mentoring. However people not in employment will be considered as candidates for either role.

Participants will normally be Tasmanian based but may be non-metropolitan. All participants must satisfy the requirements set out in guidelines and application/questionnaire forms, including the ability to articulate objectives and expectations.

It is recommended that participants discuss their involvement in the project with their supervisors, as appropriate.

Mentor/mentee agreements

Partners in each pairing will be expected to complete a mentor/mentee agreement to ensure common understanding of nature and expectations of the partnership. This applies to remote pairings also. A member of the mentoring committee countersigns the agreement. This person normally will become the first point of contact.

Role of the mentoring committee

The mentoring committee is established by the ALIA Tasmania executive committee and reports to the committee through the chair.

Funding for the program is authorised directly by the ALIA Tasmania executive committee. The mentoring committee is responsible for planning and implementation of the program, specifically:

providing information and guidelines to participants
receiving applications and negotiating pairings
launching the scheme initially and organising subsequent intakes
monitoring progress of partnerships
problem-solving
concluding/renewing agreements
evaluating both individual partnerships and the scheme as a whole.

Monitoring

Follow up occurs after approximately one month and at the conclusion of the partnership. Follow up will usually take the form of a phone call from a committee member. Participants may refer to the committee as necessary.

Evaluation of both individual's experiences and the program as a whole occurs as part of the follow up process and through a formal questionnaire and review function at the end of partnership.

Confidentiality

All information provided to the mentoring committee as part of the mentoring program will be treated confidentially.

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