When otherwise strong pairs are not able to continue participating in the program any longer due to, for example, a mentee transferring school, pairs will need to be un-matched by the Program Manager (PM).  We may have to un-match pairs because a mentee has left the program for another reasons or is seriously not meeting the expectations of the program.  

Timeline for Match Intervention Protocol in Circumstances Where Mentees Must Be Un-Matched

The timeline on which the Match Intervention Protocol is deployed in this scenario are idiosyncratic to the circumstances of the pair (i.e., relationship strength, time of year, mentee grade, etc.).  It is also important to note that, when a mentee is disengaged, PMs must make every effort to reengage the mentee prior to deciding to un-match a pair.  This includes, but is not limited to:

• Leveraging the mentor to continue pushing the mentee to engage;
• Encouraging any peers that are highly engaged to prompt the disengaged mentee to participate;
• Leveraging relationships with school partner staff to reengage the mentee (i.e., teachers/coaches/counselors the mentee has a good relationship with, etc.);
• Reaching out to the mentee's parent/guardian to encourage them to prompt their student to participate.

Criteria for Un-Matching Mentees

Un-matching for mentee-driven circumstances include:

• Mentee is no longer in class (i.e., school transfer, class scheduling that will not be corrected  allowing the mentee to participate in the future, etc.);
• Mentee has not been in class for 4-6 weeks straight and intentions of returning are unknown (after exhausting all resources within the school and contacting the mentee's parent/guardian);
• Mentee refuses to participate for 4-6 weeks straight (after exhausting all possible strategies to reengage the mentee, including leveraging the mentor, school partner and/or parent/guardian).

For all other circumstances, PM will present individual cases to their manager during weekly check-ins.  A final decision regarding next steps will be made by the PM and their manager in that space.  If there is not consensus, the decision of the manager presides.

Managing Situations in Which Mentees Must Be Un-Matched

When mentees are can no longer continue in the match and all possible strategies to reengage the mentee have been exhausted, PMs proceed as follows:

1. PM documents the mentee's inability to continue in the program via a note on their platform profile;
2. PM brings up un-matching possibility with manager in weekly check-in;
3. PM calls mentor to discuss un-matching;
   • Click HERE to read about iMentor's approach to healthy match closure.  The article includes tips for managing the mentor closure experience, including talking points.
4. PM talks with mentee in class about un-matching;
   • Click HERE to read about iMentor's approach to healthy match closure.  The article includes tips for managing the mentee closure experience, including talking points.
5. PM works toward final online communication (or ideally, in-person meeting) that provides the pair space to come to healthy closure;
6. PM updates platform profile (for both mentee and mentor) with detailed notes, email conversations, or anything that would help future platform users understand the un-matching situation;
7. PM formally un-matches pair on Platform (instructions for un-matching pairs on the platform can be found HERE).