About the MGA Peer Mentor Program

Running twice a year, this program provides new graduate students (mentees) with guidance on surviving and thriving at Monash. It is also a great avenue for meeting other graduate students.

Being a mentor is a wonderful opportunity to enhance your leadership and communication skills, form new friendships, and give back to the graduate student community.

For mentees, it is a chance to build your student network and support system, increase self-confidence, develop communication skills, and learn useful tips to find your feet at the beginning of your graduate degree.

What’s special about our Mentor Program?

Unique: This is the only mentoring program at Monash for graduate students that runs across all faculties.

Flexible: The program is run both online and in person.

Personalised: Mentors and mentees will be grouped by the MGA’s Mentor Coordinator based on faculty/department/research topic. If this requirement cannot be met, the MGA Mentor Coordinator will reach out to the participant and potential mentor to assess suitability.

Structured: The program includes orientation sessions to kick the program off, dedicated touch points between mentor and mentees throughout the program and regular check-ins from the MGA’s Mentor Coordinator.

Engaged: Mentors will be well-prepared and trained for the program. Students can expect a high level of engagement and mentors can expect to receive excellent leadership skills development.

Guided: You will be in good hands. Mentors will be guided and nurtured by the MGA’s Mentor Coordinator throughout the program and all mentors are provided with a comprehensive Mentor Handbook, tailored specifically to either coursework or HDRs students.

Mentor Program for Coursework Students

Beginning at the start of each semester, the MGA Mentor Coordinator will group new graduate coursework students with a peer mentor (a senior graduate coursework student) from their faculty. This mentor will share their own learnings and experience and teach new students the art of surviving and thriving through their first semester.

This 8-week program is open to all new graduate coursework students enrolled in their first semester. There will be 6 touch points during semester. Mentors will be expected to meet with their mentees for up to an hour every week for the first 4 weeks of the program, followed by two more meetings over the final weeks of the program. Meetings can be done in-person or online, depending on availability and suitability for the mentoring groups.

There is also has a mid-program social, which provides students with an opportunity to socialise and mingle with fellow coursework students in the program. Previous events have included trivia nights, cake and coffee and virtual escape rooms.

🌱 Get a coursework mentor

If you are a new student who would like to join the program as a mentee, you must register through the Mentee Registration form, which is available in February/March for the Semester 1 program, and June/July for the Semester 2 program.

Graduate students based overseas or off-campus are encouraged to apply, as the program is available online.

Registrations close: TBC

🌳 Be a coursework mentor

Students who would like to join the program as a mentor must register through the Mentor Registration form, which is open from November – February for the Semester 1 program, and May – July for the Semester 2 program each year.

Coursework mentors must be enrolled in a graduate coursework degree and be at least two semesters into your degree.

Applications close: Sunday, 28 January 2024

Mentor Program for HDR students

This program is designed specifically for graduate research students and aims to foster:

• interdisciplinary knowledge-sharing;
• expansion of HDR social circles;
• peer guidance on HDR-related issues such as how to approach milestones, effective communication with supervisors and useful tips for surviving your Masters by Research or PhD.

The program runs twice a year (with intakes in March and August). We group newly commencing HDR students who are in the early stages of their research with experienced PhD/Masters by Research students who are able to offer support and guidance to their mentees.

This 12-week program is open to all new research students within the first 6 months of their research degree who have not completed confirmation. There will be 6 touch points during program, with a virtual orientation session to kick things off, followed by regular meetings amongst the mentoring groups every fortnight. Meetings can be done in-person or online depending on the availability and suitability of the mentoring groups.

🌱 Get a HDR mentor

If you are a new student who would like to join the program as a mentee, you must register through the Mentee registration form. The HDR Mentor Program runs twice a year, in March and in August to accommodate for new graduate research students that start throughout the year.

Graduate students based overseas or off-campus are encouraged to apply, as the program is available online.

Applications close: TBC

🌳 Be a HDR mentor

Students who would like to join the program as a mentor must register through the Mentor registration form. HDR mentors MUST be enrolled in a research degree at Monash and have completed their first milestone (confirmation).

Applications close: Sunday, 28 January 2024

Have you got any questions?

For any further queries, please contact the Mentor Program Coordinator:

Lisa Falla: mga-events@monash.edu

Testimonials from the MGA Mentor Program

“The best part of the MGA mentoring program was developing my professional skills and personal relationship with my mentee. Mentors are more than giving advice. All words you say could make a huge difference to mentees.”

• Coursework Mentor

“The program helped to develop my leadership skills. Additionally, my network has grown. The biggest benefit of the program was to hear the feedback from my mentees. They were always grateful for my work which was a really good feeling. Once when we caught up with one of my mentees, the mentee introduced me to her colleague. She was so proud and told to the colleague: “She is my mentor”. The colleague asked back: “Wow you have a mentor?” It was really heart warming, I felt super proud.”

• HDR Mentor

“Registering for the MGA mentor program was one of the best decisions I made in my first semester at Monash. Due to remote/online studying, any opportunity to connect with fellow students is worthwhile. My mentor was very pleasant, kind and helpful. She patiently answered all my queries in the first few sessions that helped me settle in well and feel confident about starting my course. Over time, my mentor and I built a good rapport and I enjoyed my subsequent sessions sharing stories and experiences of university life and life in general. It has been a great and enriching experience and I highly recommend students to register for it. I would also love to be a mentor and help future students by adding value through this program.”

• Coursework Mentee

“This program offered inspiration to follow my dream to successfully complete my PhD. I also benefited from the organisational tips, suggestions to develop successful relationships with supervisors, and the support, kindness and empathy offered by my mentor. I have created some new friends through the process! Thank you for this opportunity.”

• HDR Mentee