What is mentoring?
Some members of staff taking up new appointments may already appear to be familiar with the University either because they are Cambridge graduates or have previously held an appointment in a College or a research group. However, many aspects of University and College life and work may still be unclear to them. For new staff coming to Cambridge for the first time, the problems are more obvious and more emphasised.
For this reason, rather than being left to ‘find their own feet’, which may in reality mean being left to ‘sink or swim’, newly appointed staff wish to be able to find help (or be offered it) as and when they need it, within a recognised and accepted framework. This need not be an elaborate or rigid mechanism and may draw on various sources of support.
All new members of staff in assistant, academic and academic-related posts will be assigned a mentor on their appointment by the HR Office; the Research Office will appoint mentors for new members of research staff.
The following documents will help the mentors and mentees in their discussions:
Mentoring areas and themes to consider (for academics)
More information available from the HR Office or through the link below.
https://www.hr.admin.cam.ac.uk/policies-procedures/mentoring-information-new-staff
