Community Mentoring Program
The ASCILITE Community Mentoring Program (CMP) seeks to involve participants in a professional mentoring relationship built between learners (the mentees) and experienced practitioners (the mentors). Whilst the new learners may be experienced in some areas of educational technologies, the ASCILITE CMP is a vehicle for enhancement of specific knowledge, skills or capacities in an area of developing expertise. This arrangement is formalised through a Mentoring Agreement.
In 2023 a new component to the CMP was offered – Women in Professional Leadership program WiPL – which, due to its success, is now a standalone program. More information is available here.
We define mentoring as collaboration between ASCILITE members for the purpose of achieving an agreed goal through dialogue, action and reflection. The focus of these collaborations can be across a number of areas which can include:
- Practices in academia
- Early career academics/professionals
- Educational innovations
- Preparation for conference presentations
The Community Mentoring Program offers two partnering alternatives:
- For a mentee to work individually with a mentor on a project
- For several mentees to work collaboratively with a pair of mentors on projects related to a negotiated overall theme
CMP Information Session webinar
A recording was made of the information session webinar conducted on 3 February 2022 for those interested in learning more about the Community Mentoring Program. The session was chaired by the 2022 CMP coordinators Dr Kwong Nui Sim and Dr Hazel Jones and participants also heard from several past mentors and mentees. The 50 min video recording is available below and in addition to that recording, a mentor (Michael Sankey) and a mentee (Ger Post) have shared their experience of the program in their own videos.
Partnering Commitments
Mentoring partners agree on a common goal or goals that are achievable over six months and also agree to regular contact, at least once a month for six months. They formally participate in an evaluation of the program, their project and their outcomes; which also may then be disseminated through conferences/journal articles. if possible, mentoring partners also participate in a CMP Symposium at the annual ASCILITE Conference.
Please note: Participation in the CMP does not guarantee specific outcomes e.g. promotion.
Benefits of Participation
The benefits of participation in the CMP include:
- expansion of skills, knowledge and experience in a chosen field;
- development of communication and leadership skills;
- opportunity for networking and to create contacts outside of the individual’s own workplace;
- enhancement of confidence to actively participate in the ASCILITE community.
Application Process
Expressions of Interest are were invited from ASCILITE members who wish to be a mentee or a mentor for 2024. Applications are now closed.
This is a competitive process and successful mentees are matched with mentors who have expertise in applicable areas. Potential CMP mentors do not have to be current ASCILITE members, however CMP mentees are required to be ASCILITE members.
Both mentees and mentors, if current ASCILITE members, are eligible for a 50% discount on their ASCILITE conference registration at the end of their mentoring year if the aims of their respective mentoring agreement have been achieved by that time.
Mentees may participate only once in the CMP unless their project is incomplete at the end of the year, in which case they may continue as a mentee the following year. Mentees may wish to apply as a mentor following the completion of their time as a mentee.
Timeline Estimates
- Mid February – Call for expressions of interest
- Late February – Closing date for applications
- Mid March – Successful applicants are contacted
- Late March – Mentor Agreements are signed
- November – End of year reports are due
- December – ASCILITE conference
Further Information
Kwong Nui is the CMP Chair and the main point of contact for the program. If you wish to know more about the Community Mentoring Program, please email Kwong Nui below.
Dr Kwong Nui Sim
