SWMS Mentorship Program Participant Agreement

PLEASE READ THE AGREEMENT AT THE END OF THIS DOCUMENT

Updated 08/09/2023

The SWMS mentorship program seeks to enhance support and guidance for individuals pursuing marine science careers at every stage of their journey. Our primary goal is to establish a thriving ecosystem of mentorship, fostering meaningful connections between mentors and mentees beyond traditional academic or work settings. Our program aims to enrich the experiences of both mentors and mentees through building a robust network within the SWMS community.

Participant Requirements:

Mentors and mentees must be SWMS members and may be:

• Any gender
• Any cultural backgrounds
• Any career level
• In academic, industry, non-profit, government or other positions
• Mentees may serve as mentors to others, provided that the career level is appropriate

UPDATE: We are working hard to ensure all mentees will be paired with suitable mentors. With always facing a shortage of mentors, we wholeheartedly encourage you to apply as mentors and be part of driving the success of our program.

Matching Parameters:

Matches will be made through matching surveys that consider one or more of the following:

• Group vs. One-on-one mentorship preference
• Preferred genders and career levels of mentors
• Desired outcome or purpose of mentorship
• Proximity, if meeting in person
• Language, if feasible

• Mentors and mentees can be from any country in the world! This is mostly a phone- and video-call based program. We expect that most mentoring will happen in English, but we will try our best to find mentors that speak other languages, although this is not guaranteed.

• All questions must be answered in the Matching Survey for participants to be matched.

Logistics:

• Applications for mentors and mentees will be accepted on a rolling basis

• Matches will be sent out once every 1-2 months

• When matched, mentors will send their mentee(s) the following information :

• Short bio (field of concentration, career level and type, gender, preferred pronouns, favorite things, and response to “Other things we should know” based on the discretion of the Management Team)
• Discussion topics the mentee(s) would like to cover
• Preferred methods of communication
• If participating in group mentorship, all mentees will receive the same email

• A graphic flier will be emailed to all matched program participants monthly that includes:

• A reminder to meet
• Suggested topics for discussion
• Link to a feedback survey

• Survey results will be maintained in a database used for creating matches

• Security: Only SWMS Steering Committee members and mentorship program managers that have signed confidentiality agreements will have access to the database.
• Privacy Statement: All information will be kept strictly confidential. If data is used for any other purposes other than assigning matches (i.e., reporting statistics, evaluating the program outside of the Steering Committee, etc.), all names will be removed and replaced with random identification codes.

• This program is under active development so, please be honest, open, and communicative about any desired changes.
• If there are any comments, issues or concerns, please contact the SWMS Mentorship Program Chair (Tia Ouyang) at swmsmentorship@gmail.com.

THE AGREEMENT AND EXPECTATIONS

• Exchanges are considered confidential between mentor and mentee, withholding those situations that may be imminently harmful to the mentee or others. The mentor is not considered a mandatory reporter, but is allowed to breach confidentiality for the mentee's safety. If unsure of how to report these situations, please contact the SWMS Mentorship Program managers at swmsmentorship@gmail.com for guidance. In consideration of the opportunity to participate in the Mentorship Program, the mentors and mentees release and hold harmless the members of the Society for Women in Marine Science and release them from any and all liability.
• Commitment to at least one meeting per month between a mentor and mentee, unless another mutually agreeable schedule is agreed upon
• Honest and respectful communication
• Both mentors and mentees will respond to Feedback surveys. This survey will be important in evaluating the success of the program and in offering suggestions for improvement.
• If mentors and mentees attend a SWMS Symposium, they will meet during that meeting, likely during a time specified in the program/agenda or during one of the breaks.
• If a mentor or mentee is not meeting the expectations of the other partner, we encourage a conversation between the two about goals and expectations. If an agreement is not met, either partner may end the pairing by contacting the SWMS Mentorship Program managers (swmsmentorship@gmail.com) at any time during the program.