Tutor-Guardian & Student Mentor Activities: an introduction

Dr. S. S. VERMA; Department of Physics, S.L.I.E.T., Longowal; Distt.-Sangrur (Punjab)-148 106

2021-10-15 16:48:14

Credit: pixabay.com

Credit: pixabay.com

Mentoring is considered as a National Mission in the National Education Policy 2020, so that students should feel safe, protected, motivated and free to share their thoughts with their teachers and seniors.

Importance of Mentoring: Taking into consideration the transitional phase in student’s life when he embarks towards his educational career in the institute for the first time, and have to adapt to new ways of learning and teaching, as well as living away from home, mentoring have a pivotal role to play.

Role of mentoring: A mentor as well as tutor-guardian generally share information about his/her and others life journey towards their career path with a student/mentee as well as provide guidance, motivation, emotional support, and role modelling. A mentor may help with exploring careers, setting goals, developing contacts, and identifying resources.

 

Tutor-Guardian Scheme (TGS) & Student Mentor Scheme (SMS)

TGS activities: Under this activity, about 20-25 students/mentees from different classes/trades/batches (ICD 1-3rd year and UG 1-4th year) of the same engineering department are attached to a faculty member of the same engineering department as well as some faculty members from the non-engineering departments (on requirement basis) and these teachers are called as Tutor-Guardians.

  • TGS lists are prepared at the beginning of every academic session.
  • These lists are uploaded on the institute website.
  • Lists are sent to HoDs of engineering departments to circulate among students as well as to put on notice boards.
  • These lists are also sent by e-mail to each and every faculty member.
  • HoDs, class teachers and class councillors are requested to familiarize the students with TGS lists.

Role of Student/Mentee

  • Knowing about the his/her Tutor-Guardian (Teacher) by the student (mentee), students are encouraged to make a contact with their Tutor-Guardians.
  • A weekly slot in the central time table is marked for TGS activities and is circulated well in advance to teachers/tutor-guardians and students/mentees.
  • Students/mentees are advised to meet their Tutor-Guardian regularly and at least on the specified time slot.
  • Students/mentees can discuss and take advise about their academic and other problems with their tutor-guardian teacher.

Role of Tutor-Guardian

  • Students should feel safe, protected, motivated and free to share their thoughts with their teachers.
  • Tutor-Guardians Teachers are requested to make all out efforts to be in touch with the students/mentees assigned to them.
  • A tutor-guardian can be a role model and a source of motivation and compassion to his students. Teacher should listen to students patiently on all topics of discussion and advise/guide the student to the best of his (teacher’s) wisdom to tackle with the situation with all possible capabilities. 
  • They are asked to keep a record of meetings, attendance, agenda of discussion, issues raised by students, feedback and submit to the office of Dean (SW) and Coordinator-TGSMS.
  • In the COVID times, tutor-guardians are requested to make online TGS activity classes on G-suite and interact with students regularly.

 

SMS activities: A student mentor (who is generally a senior student) will help the new student (mentee) to go far by providing academic, personal and professional help and can be a source of support when needed most. The Student Mentor (s) is a team of current/senior students, trained to offer the help and support whilst new entrants enrol in the college. The student mentor will be there to help as soon as the new entrant receive his/her accommodation and throughout the rest of life. Under this activity, only students of ICD 1st year and UG 1st year are taken as mentees and students from UG 2nd year and 3rd year are given the responsibility of mentors.

  • Departmental TGSMS coordinators based on their acquaintance with the students of their departments prepare the lists of effective student mentors with required traits like: great listening skills, excellent communication, wide network, past experience with mentorships, specialised advice and enthusiasm in the field and who can give constructive feedback.
  • . The selected students from UG 2nd year are given the responsibility of mentors to ICD 1st year students/mentees and of the different branches in the same department. About 10-12 students/mentees are assigned to each student mentor.
  • The selected students from UG 3rd year are given the responsibility of mentors to UG 1st year students/mentees and of the different branches in the same department. About 10-12 students/mentees are assigned to each student mentor.
  • SMS lists are prepared at the beginning of every academic session.
  • These lists are uploaded on the institute website.
  • Lists are sent to HoDs of engineering departments to circulate among students as well as to put on notice boards.
  • These lists contain all the details of mentor & mentee like name, class/trade, year, mobile no., e-mail, hostel, room no., and sent by e-mail to each and every mentor & mentee.
  • HoDs, class teachers and class councillors are also requested to familiarize the students (mentors & mentees) with SMS lists.

Role of Student/Mentee

  • Knowing about the his/her Student mentor by the student (mentee), students/mentees are encouraged to make a contact with their mentors.
  • Student mentors and mentees are advised to meet each other regularly.
  • Students/mentees can discuss and take advise about their academic and other problems with their student mentors.

Role of Student Mentor

  • Student mentors are requested to make all out efforts to be in touch with the students/mentees assigned to them.
  • They are asked to keep a record of meetings, attendance, agenda of discussion, issues raised by students, feedback and submit to the office of Dean (SW) and Coordinator-TGSMS.
  • In the COVID times, student mentors are requested to make online SMS activity classes on G-suite and interact with students/mentees regularly.
  • Mentors can help with academic and non-academic queries or concerns
  • Help to settle into student life and orientate into the college/university and city environment
  • Can create opportunities to meet other students from your course
  • Can guide about referencing, note taking and what to expect from the course
  • Will introduce or guide about students’ union activities, clubs and societies to get involved in
  • Can help in using turn-it-in and learning facilities and helping to prepare for exams
  • Can give insider tips on surviving the first year at college/university and student life specific to time and location
  • Will give ideas on the different opportunities you can get involved in around campus
  • Can give relevant, recent and reliable advice that they have been trained to provide
  • Can answering the questions, you really want to ask
  • Can advise on accessing specialist support services