Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some answers to questions you may have about being a mentor in the Academic Promotions Mentoring program.
 

How can I access the mentoring guide? 

The BOOST for academic promotion mentoring guide is available in your resources.

     BOOST - Advice for Mentors

What is the role of a mentor in academic promotion?

The role of the mentor is to provide assistance and support to academic colleagues who are applying for academic promotion.

What am I expected to do as a mentor?

As a mentor you will assist the mentee to set goals in relation to academic promotion, review their readiness for promotion, provide advice on the collection of evidence to support their application, and guidance in the writing of the narrative in the application form. You will not be expected to proofread their application.

Who can be a mentor for academic promotion?

Any academic Level C or above who has been successful in promotion at RMIT.

How will mentors and mentees be matched?

Mentors and mentees will register via the BOOST mentoring platform. Once a mentee is approved, they will receive suggested mentors based on their profile. Mentees will also be able to search through the available mentors and read profiles  to connect with one they believe will suit their needs for their academic promotion journey. Mentees can send a request to their preferred mentor, but will only be able to select one mentor at a time. Once a mentee has requested you as a mentor, you will have 5 days to consider and respond. If you have not responded in this timeframe, the request will expire. 

Mentees who enter the system have from the beginning of the Intent to Apply stage until the end of the application stage to select a preferred mentor, though the mentee would benefit from the connection as early in the process as possible. If a mentee has not nominated a preferred mentor, the system will automatically match these mentees with a recommended mentor based on their profiles. 

How many mentees will I be expected to mentor?

You can choose to enter into as many mentor partnerships that you are able to accommodate. The default setting on the BOOST platform is a maximum of two. You can increase or decrease this setting at any time through the "settings" option on your mentor profile. 

How much time is involved in the process?

The amount of time involved will vary with each mentoring partnership and should be discussed in the first mentoring meeting. We recognise availability can be a factor to participate in this program and we understand it may be less for some periods .The duration of the partnership and the number of meetings will depend on what stage in the academic promotion process the mentee is, the mentee’s individual needs and the time commitments of both the mentor and mentee. We suggest to estimate up to 12 hours at an average. BOOST for Academic Promotion will be open for the Intent to Apply and Application stages. 

Partnerships can continue outside the BOOST platform after applications have been submitted if the mentor and mentee are both amendable to this.

I was last promoted at RMIT over two years ago, under the previous framework for academic promotion. Is this a problem?

Mentoring is a facilitative process where the emphasis is on enabling the mentee to achieve their goal of academic promotion. Familiarity with the current framework and process is therefore important, but expert knowledge is not required. All relevant information will be available on the Academic Promotion webpage from the commencement of the round.

What support will I receive as a mentor?

A Mentoring Guide is available for mentors and you will have the opportunity to participate in a debriefing session post mentoring.

Where will the meetings take place and do they all have to be face-to -face? 

Each mentoring partnership will negotiate the methods of communication. Options include Teams or other online method, phone or face-to-face. 

What if I am concerned about the mentoring partnership?

We encourage you to discuss any concerns with your mentee in the first instance. If you feel you are unable to resolve the issue you can seek advice and guidance from the Academic Promotions team. A principle of mentoring is that either party can withdraw from the partnership at any time.

What if my mentee decides not to apply for academic promotion after all?

If a mentee decides not to apply for academic promotion this year, the parties may continue mentoring with BOOST for Academic Promotion noting the time frame for their application has shifted to a longer-term goal.

Will other people be able to see that I am participating in BOOST for Academic Promotion?

Mentees can see mentors in the program, but cannot see other mentees. Mentors can see other mentors, including in the Mentor forum. However, mentors can only see mentees they are in a partnership with. Administrators can see all participants in the BOOST for Academic Promotion program.