Summer of Code mentoring guide

1.  What it is to be a Mentor

Attributes

• Willing - A mentor should be willing to mentor. Mentoring is not a forced activity and it is not required. A mentor should not mentor half-heartedly. The Summer of Code experience is a great experience for students and part of that experience is having some help along the way. It is also a great opportunity to recruit new people into a project and this opportunity should not be squandered. Of course mentoring also offers a great opportunity for friendship.
• Informed - A mentor should know what they are signing up for; generally by reading this document. A mentor should be aware of the time requirements and any mentor who knows they cannot devote the time required should probably take a back-seat role; perhaps as a secondary or backup mentor.
• Capable - A mentor should be capable of mentoring for the given task. Knowledge of the language the student is using is important as is knowledge of the problem domain. The student will (hopefully) be asking questions about the project and their implementation (and as a mentor you should arguably be questioning their implementation as you review it.)
• Sociable - A mentor should try to foster a relationship with the student. It is important to critique the students work in a professional manner. Complaints about rudeness and abuse should be filed to the GSoc team lead and/or the Google Summer of Code staff.

Process

Being a mentor is about getting to know the student, helping the student, critiquing the student and insuring the student is making progress. These are roles generally performed by a 'Tech Lead' or 'Project Manager'. A person interested in mentoring should be prepared to do these tasks.

Helping the Student: The mentor should assist the student with common questions about the domain area, implementation and language specifics. As a mentor you should not write the code for the student; however using unrelated examples that can communicate your point to the student are a good tool.

Critiquing the student: As a mentor you should review the student's work on a regular basis. A recommendation that has worked in the past is every week; however you and the student should discuss meeting times, number of meetings, and meeting duration. It is important that you as a mentor ensure the student is staying on track and and is meeting the deadlines set forth in their application. If there are road blocks that are hindering the student's progress you should aid the student in overcoming them.

Applying to be a Mentor for GSOC 2009

Applications for mentorship are now open. Once you apply you will be contacted by the program administrators (dberkholz or antarus) to answer some questions about mentoring and why you have elected to be a Mentor. Mentor selection is currently decided at the sole descretion of the program administrators. All mentors should have sufficient involvement within the Gentoo community to support their application.