External Mentoring policy

[vakrao]

Description of Issue:

Need specific policies on external mentors, and, how to externally mentor.

Proposed Solution:

Require meetings with external mentor at least twice a month.
External mentors can be fairly flexible on almost anything, but, should provide updates on the group like regular mentors. Specify a "project lead" on a project for a point of contact.

[kburk1997]

Meetings:
These meetings can be in person or remote depending on distance from Troy.
If we have enough funding and the external mentor works close enough to Troy, perhaps a site visit or have the external mentor give an RCOS talk?

Flexibility:
Most external mentors will have full-time jobs, so being a bit more lenient on mentorship requirements will work out.

Applying CoC to external mentors:
If external mentors violate the CoC to the extent where we would remove an RPI student from RCOS, we should bar them from externally mentoring in future semesters. If they are representing a company, we should also notify their employer.

Students barred from RCOS due to CoC violations and/or RPI Student Handbook violations may not become external mentors after graduation or being dismissed from RPI.

Another idea for external mentors who are RPI alumni:
Have external mentors be involved in a local RCOS alumni group? We have plenty of alumni in the Bay Area, Seattle, Boston, and NYC and students who may intern there. This will also help foster a lifelong RCOS community that is less of a "revolving door"

[Apexal]

This is increasingly important as we now have a huge amount of external projects with external mentors and it is not standardized how they are expected to interact with their teams. We will make this a priority to figure out by Spring 2022.