Key Administrative and Management Tasks for an Online Mentoring Program

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key administrative and management tasks
for an online mentoring program

Online mentoring programs usually involve collaboration among different organizations. For instance, the protegés may be students at a particular school, the mentors from a corporation, and representatives from both of these organizations organize the effort.

In addition to the program development elements that organizers will need to explore (goals of the program, how often online exchanges will take place, evaluating the participating organizations' readiness for such a program, etc. -- see first steps), it's of critical importance to make sure all administrative tasks regarding the launch and maintenance of this program are assigned and agreed to.

These assignments should be put into writing and communicated to all organizing participants.

What organization, and what person, will be responsible for each task of launching and maintaining your online mentoring program? While everyone involved in putting together the program may contribute to each of the following tasks, there should be ONE person and organization who is ultimately responsible for actually doing the task, or making sure that the task is assigned appropriately.

Here is an overview of the key administrative tasks involved in the launch and maintenance of an online mentoring program; organizations are encouraged to adapt this list as needed.

If you have additional, general administrative tasks you think should be added to this list, please contact us:

task	organization responsible	person responsible
recruiting mentors
producing online mentoring orientation materials
producing protegé orientation materials
delivery of orientation materials face-to-face to mentors (as appropriate for your program)
delivery of orientation materials face-to-face to protegés (as appropriate for your program)
delivery/presentation of all program materials to appear on the World Wide Web (as appropriate for your program)
training of staff that will supervise participants in this program
communicating regularly with program supervisors/coordinators about the program (answering questions, trouble-shooting, etc.)
reviewing potential mentor applications
communicating regularly with potential mentors about the program (answering questions, trouble-shooting, etc.)
performing background checks on potential mentors
approving potential mentors
notifying accepted mentors
orienting accepted mentors
communicating regularly with accepted mentors (soliciting and tracking feedback about the progress of program, answering questions, trouble-shooting, etc.)
approving each protegés participation (reviewing grades, parental permission slips, etc.)
orienting protegés
communicating regularly with protegés about the program (soliciting and tracking feedback about the progress of program, answering questions, trouble-shooting, etc.)
communicating regularly with parents of youth involved in the program (orienting them about the program, soliciting and tracking feedback about the progress of program, answering questions, trouble-shooting, etc.)
designing system (e-mail, web site, bulletin board) where mentor and protegés will interact; and where all messages will be archived.
hosting system where mentor and protegés will interact; and where all messages will be archived.
reviewing (and, if appropriate, approving and forwarding) all electronic exchanges between mentors and protegés
tracking and reporting on results of exchanges between mentors and protegés
tracking and reporting on results of recruiting and orienting mentors, results of communications with mentors, and other administrative tasks involving mentors
tracking and reporting on results of orienting youth, results of communications with youth about the program, and other administrative tasks involving youth
tracking and reporting on results of parent relations and parents questions, concerns and interests in the program
reviewing and evaluating all results of all tasks as reported, and communicating this evaluation

If your organization already involves volunteers as online mentors or online advisors for any age group, we'd like to hear more about you, and consider your materials for inclusion on our site. Please provide us information about your program via our online survey.

Other Online Mentoring Resources
These files are updated frequently:

initial first steps for those considering setting up an online mentoring program.
selected resources for online mentoring/teletutoring programs, including example materials from other organizations, general mentoring resources and detailed program suggestions that can help other agencies engage in similar activities.
the most comprehensive online listing available of online mentoring and teletutoring programs involving volunteers, with profiles of more than 25 organizations.
suggested activities for online mentors and mentees. These activities range from topics to discuss via e-mail, to web-based projects mentors and mentees can do together.
Telementoring: a View From the Facilitator's Screen, by Laura Amill, a telementoring facilitator/researcher in the Electronic Emissary Project at the University of Texas at Austin. How does an online tutoring program really work? What characterizes successful online tutoring program? What role do classroom teachers play in the success of such programs? This is a must-read essay for anyone involved with an online mentoring or tutoring program, or anyone interested in starting such a program.

Virtual Volunteering Resources
How to find and involve volunteers working from home or work computers, online resources for volunteer managers, advice for individuals who want to volunteer virtually, etc. These pages are updated and added to each month.
How Your Agency Can Utilize the Virtual Volunteering Project
Tips on how to use this Web site, information about our offline services, and how we can help you introduce or expand virtual volunteering in your agency.
Virtual Volunteering Project home page

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