In an effort to incentivize participation, we offer mentor applicants the ability to apply to Mentor Together with a friend, family member or colleague. A mentor will apply to volunteer with a friend or colleague at the same school. This means they will be matched in the same cohort and have meetings on the same nights, so they can travel together to events for example. They will still each have their own mentee. The mentor application includes an optional field asking "Are you applying to participate in Mentor Together?". If yes, the applicant will note the full name and email address of their Mentor Together buddy.
Requirements
Due to the potential complexity of Mentor Together, there are specific requirements in order for the pair to be considered for a match at a new school:
- Mentor together pairs can generally only be two people rather than larger groups. If a mentor asks to be matched in a group once in screening, the screener may ask which partner the applicant prefers we prioritize and make any updates necessary. The group may still be noted in Match Logistics, but the applicant will be told that it likely won't be possible.
- Both pair preferences need to be in line -- same accessible train lines, same borough requirements, same weeknight availability, lunch preferences, and same program length requirement etc.
- Both applicants must be on track to have their screening process complete around the same time, and definitely before matching season begins.
Screening Responsibilities
Screeners must ensure that all requirements are met in order for two mentor applicants to be considered for Mentor Together. Before the mentor interview, the Screener should review the above requirements. At the end of the Interview, the Screener will confirm that the pair meets requirements and ask their applicant if they are willing to be matched without their Mentor Together buddy. Screeners should record their response in Match Logistics and mark either “Yes” or “No” in the “Can be Matched without Mentor Together?” field. Any applicant that has a Mentor Together request linked on their application should not be made RTBM without this field filled out. If you are the owner of a “buddy” who did not mention a Mentor Together request on their own application, but they were linked to someone else after their interview was already completed, there is no need to reach out to that person a second time – unless they actively mention the interest in mentoring together, you can assume the answer is “Yes”.
If the applicants do not qualify for a Mentor Together match, or they are no longer interested in mentoring together, the applications should not be linked in Salesforce. The information imported from the application (name and email address) should be retained on the right-hand side, but the applications should not be linked on the left-hand side. We will only link applications together if both applicants are currently in the screening process. If a mentor applicant applies to mentor together with someone who is either RTBM, Matched, Closed, Self-/Staff-Withdrawn, or Rejected, we will not link these applications in Salesforce. However, relevant context about the request should still be added to the Match Notes.
See below for relevant fields in Salesforce:
