These were outlined in the overview of the project, but they should be negotiated between the mentee/mentor matching the mentor's experience to the mentee's expectations

There may be other events, based on what participants said they needed in the induction sessions. The project group will keep participants informed of any events over the next year.

We would recommend a minimum of at least two face-to-face meetings a term. However, again this is open to negotiation. Mentoring pairs can also correspond by phone/email/Skype in between face-to-face meetings.

This is done by the training facilitator working with two Equalities managers based on objectives, interests, expertise, discipline and other criteria identified in mentee and mentor proformas (for mentees this will be completed at the end of the induction session). You can express a preference (essential or desirable) for mentors of a particular gender, university and subject discipline, bearing in mind that it may not be possible to find a perfect match meeting all criteria.

Mentors have been recruited based on their interest and interests, experience, expertise and discipline. The principle motivation seems to be genuine concern about the lack of BME academics and wanting to give something back, to pass on what they know. In some cases it may also help with their own promotion prospects.

 All the institutions already endorse the scheme and will be given an evaluation report at the end of the pilot. We think that it can be helpful for you to involve your line managers in supporting the aims of the scheme because their support may be required to enable you to attend, for example, leadership workshops. A letter has been drafted to send to line managers which you can give to your line manager if you wish.

This is not something we foresee, though there may be individual circumstances that make this desirable. In any event your mentor will not contact your line manager without your agreement. 

You will have the opportunity to get out of the usual working environment, perhaps be more candid and maybe understand the working culture of other universities/departments. 

You would need to ask them but the goals of the mentoring may be different. It is quite common for people, especially in the US , to have a circle of mentors/advisers with different expertise. It is perhaps unrealistic to expect all the qualities and experience you would like in one person.

No, but the Equality and Diversity specialists, some of whom are on the project group, in the various institutions are working on this. 

Absolutely, though different mentors will have different levels of expertise for example in intercultural issues. However, as the mentor group is self-selecting it is likely that they would feel comfortable, and perhaps even expect, to address these issues. We hope that one of the institutional benefits of the scheme will be a greater understanding of diversity among senior staff in the five institutions. 

A good mentor should be able to get the balance right between providing advice and guidance, and offering a space for the mentee to explore ideas. This will also depend on whether they have worked outside academia themselves. If you express this as an objective they will aim to find you a suitable mentor, however, the overall goal of the scheme is to have more senior staff from BME backgrounds.