Mentorship Guidelines

Welcome to the Galaxy Mentor Network Program designed to help community members who may be bioinformaticians, data analysts, students, programmers, etc., become more proficient in the use of Galaxy tools and integration into the Galaxy Community.

Program Duration

A typical mentorship program is scheduled to run for 8 weeks. Within this 8-week period, GMentors will work closely with GMentees and interact with other GMentors in the mentor community chat.

Highlights of this mentorship program include:

  • Week 1 - an introductory call between GMentees, GMentors, and Network Managers.
  • Week 4 - mid-program feedback
  • Week 8 - final feedback.

Program Tracking

How we track progress

  • Two feedbacks during the duration of the program: week 4 and week 8
  • Meeting with the Network Manager

What are we tracking?

  • Progress of GMentees’ project
  • Relationship between GMentor and GMentee(s)
  • Challenges

Participants' Training

We encourage all participants to watch this video on open source mentorship.

Video credit: MongoDB

More information to guide you can be found in this resource

Participants' guide

There are three major participants in this mentorship program. They are:

  • Mentees
  • Mentors
  • Network Managers

Mentees

Mentees are members of the Galaxy Community who:

  • Are new to the community and help to become proficient in the use of Galaxy tools.
  • Want to learn how to contribute efficiently.
  • Want to transition from one part of the Galaxy ecosystem to another.
  • Need to learn how to be a mentor.
  • Need mentorship in carrying out their projects.

Expectations

  • Your GMentor is available to guide you and answer all your questions to the best of their ability.
  • The sole responsibility of your project rests on you, your mentor will not carry out your project for you.
  • Detailed and Timely reviews on your project or contributions will be given by GMentors.
  • At least 30 minutes of meeting calls between you and your mentor will be held weekly.

Time Commitment

As a GMentee, you are expected to give at least 5 hours a week to your project. Depending on your arrangements with your GMentor, meeting calls will be held as scheduled. A call with the Network Manager will also be held three times during the duration of the program.

Details of the meetings will be created in a Google calendar so you can add them to your calendar for reminders and updates.

First Steps: Getting Started

Here's what you need to kick off:

  • Join the matrix chat with your Gmentor.
  • Introduce yourself and your intended project(if you don't have a project in mind, don't worry, your GMentor has a couple of helpful projects to suggest).
  • Set up meeting times and a calendar with your GMentor.
  • Join the introductory call with your Network Manager.

Voila! You're set!

Mentors

Mentors are members of the community who have volunteered to help mentor community members to foster the growth of the Galaxy Community.

Expectations

  • Availability to guide mentees and answer all their questions to the best of your ability.
  • Detailed and Timely reviews on projects or contributions.
  • At least 30 minutes of meeting calls between you and your mentee is held weekly.
  • Attend a Mentor training session: a link to the training video will be provided in your mail.
  • Report issues or ask questions in the GMentor community chat.
  • Support is provided for all mentors in the matrix chat.

Time Commitment

As a GMentor, you are expected to give at least 30 minutes a week to your mentee’s project. Depending on your arrangements with your mentee, meeting calls will hold as scheduled. Also, a call with the Network Manager will be held three times during the duration of the program.

Details of the meetings will be created in a calendar so you can add them to your calendar for reminders and updates.

First Steps: Getting Started

Here's what you need to kick off:

  • Review mentees’ applications and select GMentee(s).
  • Join the matrix chat with your GMentee(s)
  • Introduce yourself and discuss an intended project of your GMentee(s)(if they don't have a project in mind, you can suggest a number of very helpful projects tailored to suit their skill set and goals).
  • Set up meeting times and a calendar with your GMentee(s).
  • Join the introductory call with your Network Manager and Mentee(s)

Voila! You're set!

Network Managers

Network Managers are in charge of ensuring the smooth running of the mentorship program and the welfare of mentors and mentees.

Expectations

  • Network Managers will be in the mentor community chat channels and are expected to support both GMentors and GMentees.
  • Attend Mentor training session: link to the training will be provided in your mail.
  • Respond to issues or questions asked in the mentor community chat.
  • Support is provided for all GMentors and GMentees in the matrix chat.

Time Commitment

As a Network Manager, you are expected to have at least three meetings with mentor groups during the program duration, these meeting calls will be held as scheduled. Network Managers have 3 mentor networks under them which they manage for 1 year, after which, they can choose to renew or terminate their commitment to the program.

Details of the meetings will be created in a Google calendar so you can add them to your calendar for reminders and updates.

First Steps: Getting Started

Here's what you need to kick off:

  • Inform GMentors of new applications in the mentor chat.
  • Send mails to mentors and mentees after the matching process.
  • Create the matrix chat for your mentor groups.
  • Set up meeting times and calendar with your mentor groups.
  • Host the introductory call with mentor groups.

Voila! You're set!

See our amazing GMentors and Network Managers here

End of Program

At the end of the 8-week mentorship period, mentees are expected to have a completed project. While this is a measurable factor, the goal is that at the end of the mentorship program, mentees have gained increased confidence in the use of Galaxy tools, and are more proficient with Galaxy, as an ecosystem.

A badge will be issued to mentors who successfully complete the program and a certificate to mentees.

Code of Conduct

This code of conduct outlines our expectations for participants within the Galaxy community, as well as steps to reporting unacceptable behavior. We are committed to providing a welcoming and inspiring community for all and expect our code of conduct to be honored. Anyone who violates this code of conduct may be banned from the community.