MENTEE REQUIREMENTS

• Complete mentee application.

• Be a current VTSCA member. 

• Complete VTSCA Mentor Mentee Goal Setting and Working Agreement

• Schedule regular meetings (in-person or virtual) with the mentor (at least twice each month during the academic year, for a minimum of 15-30 minutes per session) at times that are mutually convenient for the mentor and mentee.

• Complete VTSCA Mentor Meeting Collaborative Discussion Log to document each mentoring session.

• Be proactive, seeking out resources to help address priorities.

• Share ideas and practices with colleagues.

• Participate in the program evaluation and improvement.

• Maintain a log of mentoring activities, including dates and times when mentoring occurs, to be submitted to the Mentoring Coordinator at the end of the school year (complete VTSCA Mentor Mentee Hour Log).

• Submit a $75 participation fee. Your district may be able to provide funding for this fee.

• Maintain confidentiality within the mentor/mentee relationship.

GOAL AREAS

The mentoring relationship will depend on the needs of the mentee.  Goal areas can focus on both personal self-care and professional development, such as:

• Self-care ideas

• Becoming more familiar with and implementing the Vermont Model, which is aligned with the ASCA National Model 4.0, and applying the comprehensive tools and strategies into school counseling practices and protocols

Of course, these are broad areas, and there are many more you can consider -- as a mentee, your goals are as individual as you are!  Once goals are identified, then the mentor and mentee work together to develop action steps for these identified goals to ensure that you are creating a plan to meet your needs as a new counselor.

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE VTSCA MENTOR PROGRAM

An effective mentoring experience considers relationship issues, expectations and logistics.  With these in mind, here are some general guidelines for the VTSCA Mentoring Program:

• VTSCA Mentors are professionally informed about best practices in the field and participate in programs that promote alignment with the Vermont Model and/or ASCA Model 4.0©

• Professional Mentors and mentees should not be in a direct reporting relationship and are ideally not in the same district.

• Mentoring partnerships are about professional development.

• Mentoring partnerships are grounded in confidentiality and trust and should remain confidential unless otherwise specified upfront.

• Mentoring partnerships should be dynamic and reciprocal experiences in which the mentor and mentee grow and learn from each other.

• The responsibility for identifying discussion topics, surfacing ideas and structuring the relationship is shared by both mentors and mentees.

• Although there is a defined period of time for mentoring partnerships, they can be extended by mutual consent.

• Mentees are encouraged to keep their supervisors/administrators informed about the mentoring partnership; however, the disclosure of such information remains at the mentee’s discretion.

• The effectiveness of mentoring partnerships should be evaluated at defined intervals by reviewing the progress towards achieving the mutual objectives of both the mentor and the mentee.

• If a conflict arises in the mentee/mentor relationship, the mentor/mentee will reach out to Patti Tomashot, Executive Director of VTSCA, at ptomashot@vermontschoolcounselor.org.