Congratulations on joining as a Postgraduate Student Mentor. This is your opportunity to build your skills and meet new people while welcoming first year postgraduate students to our community.
The Postgraduate Welcome and Mentoring Program runs from Welcome Week, commencing Thursday 16 February 2023 until week six of semester one, 2023.
Your role involves serving as a peer leader for a small group of new postgraduate coursework students in your area of study. You'll share your advice on starting postgraduate studies, facilitate conversation and support your group to feel a sense of connection and belonging in our community.
Within the program, there are further optional volunteering opportunities for Postgraduate Student Mentors who want to extend their skills - for example, getting involved in communications campaigns, focus groups or speaking on a Student Panel. These options are completely non-compulsory.
Volunteering can be done remotely or in-person and compulsory sessions occur after business hours for those who have work commitments. Full training will be provided to you. We welcome students from all different experience levels and backgrounds and students located overseas.
Benefits of being a mentor
Joining the Postgraduate Welcome and Mentoring Program gives you the opportunity to:
- receive practical training to build your leadership and problem-solving skills
- empower other students studying in your field by sharing your insights and supporting them in their journey
- develop graduate qualities (including cultural competence, communication skills, leadership and interdisciplinary effectiveness) through valuable real-world experience with a variety of students and staff from across the faculty
- build your network with senior student leaders, new commencing students, academics and professional staff in the faculty
- gain access to ongoing professional skills development to prepare you for your future
- learn more about yourself and have fun along the way.
Once you've completed your mentoring, you'll also receive a Completion of Program Certificate to add to your CV.
What’s involved?
To become a Postgraduate Student Mentor, you'll need to:
- Complete a minimum requirement of nine volunteer hours across the program, comprising welcome week, mentor group meetings and mandatory training.
- Complete two hours of online training, including:
- One hour of Canvas modules
- A one hour planning workshop over Zoom
- Volunteer at the Postgraduate Information Session on-campus
- Volunteer at the Postgraduate Welcome Reception on-campus
- Complete an additional 3 hours of volunteering at a time of your preference, catching up with your group throughout the first six weeks of semester over Zoom, email, social media or in-person.
Any postgraduate coursework student who is currently enrolled in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, has completed at least one semester of their postgraduate coursework studies in FASS and will be re-enrolling in Semester 1, 2023 is eligible to get involved in the program.
The Mentoring Coordinator and Student Affairs and Engagement Team are always available to support you throughout your mentoring experience.
