Mentorship Program FAQs

The Mentorship Committee aims to represent the diversity of UCSF and range of areas. If you would like to participate, please consider reaching out to one of the current members to discuss further.

 See the membership page  for information on becoming a member.

The program is an 18-month cycle including the 6-month application period. You can see the full listing of events and timeline in our Calendar of Events.

Yes, the Mentorship Program is open to all UC San Francisco employees and is not limited to the School of Medicine.

Yes, you are welcome to apply again.

We accept full time career employees at 50% or more time. For full list of criteria see the Mentee page.

See the criteria listed on the Mentee page.

Due to high demand, we can only allow mentees to participate in the program one time.

Mentees are able to interview prospective mentors and rank those they hope to be paired with, and mentors provide a similar ranking to the committee. Match decisions are made after careful consideration by the Mentorship Committee. The Mentoring Committee aims to recruit at least twice as many potential mentors as mentees in order to give the mentees the opportunity to meet administrators with a wide range of responsibilities and varied backgrounds. The mentees and mentors submit rankings at the conclusion of the interview period. The Mentorship Committee uses these rankings to numerically match mentors and mentees for nearly 95% of all matches. There are a few instances when the Mentorship Committee needs to assess beyond the numbers. This is done in a confidential and collaborative manner among Mentorship Committee. Mentee matches are approximately 75% of the time made with a mentor ranked in their top three.

On average, each mentee cohort is between 20-22 people. The Mentorship Committee typically receives four times as many applicants than available openings. We highly encourage you to attend an informational brown bag session and to review your application prior to submitting. If you would like to have someone on the Mentorship Committee assist you with your application, please reach out to us at [email protected].

Mentees can expect to commit approximately 3-6 hours per month or more, depending on the agreement they create with their mentor.  The Mentee Group meets for one hour per month as a requirement of the program. For more information, please contact any member of the Mentorship Program Committee.

The mentee cohorts are expected to lead their own meetings. Every member of the cohort is expected to share in this responsibility. The mentee monthly meetings are just as important as the meetings with your mentor and your participation is mandatory. Learning about your leadership style and growing within the context of a group is very important at UCSF. Getting ahead often entails participating in and leading teams or groups effectively. The mentee meetings are a self-directed group. After the first ‘orientation’ meeting with the Mentorship Committee, the mentees will decide how to lead the meetings for the remainder of the year. In the beginning of the mentee cycle, it is helpful to create an assignment roster of who will be coordinating the meeting (time/location/topic) for each month. As participants in the Mentorship Program, you have some clout to invite senior administrators or set up panel discussions or learn more about certain aspects of work life at UCSF. This is your opportunity! When you apply to the Mentorship Program you must commit to making every monthly meeting possible. Mentees should not miss more than 3 meetings. If you cannot make this commitment you should defer participation in the Program until you can do so. If there is an issue with a mentee’s participation in the group, you may reach out confidentially to the Mentorship Committee, however, you are also encouraged to underscore the importance of group participation yourself directly. Gaining momentum and leading others toward a group endeavor are key skills that we hope you are able to practice through this very program.

We encourage you to discuss your planned participation with your supervisor. While it's not essential that your supervisor supports your being in the program, it can be helpful.

Mentees are able to interview prospective mentors and rank those they hope to be paired with, and mentors provide a similar ranking to the committee. Match decisions are made after careful consideration by the Mentorship Committee. The Mentoring Committee aims to recruit at least twice as many potential mentors as mentees in order to give the mentees the opportunity to meet administrators with a wide range of responsibilities and varied backgrounds. The mentees and mentors submit rankings at the conclusion of the interview period. The Mentorship Committee uses these rankings to numerically match mentors and mentees for nearly 95% of all matches. There are a few instances when the Mentorship Committee needs to assess beyond the numbers. This is done in a confidential and collaborative manner among Mentorship Committee. Mentee matches are approximately 75% of the time made with a mentor ranked in their top three.

Mentors can expect to commit 2-4 hours per month, depending on what is agreed upon with their mentee.  There are some events prior to the launch of the program that require additional time (orientation, social and interview period).  For more information, please contact any member of the Mentorship Program Committee.

See the Mentor page.