Getting Set Up

After you complete the Mentor Contract, Redemption Administration will set you up with access to the Redemption Logos library, create your Populi account, and provide you with a Moodle login so you can browse through the course instructions students see, including links to Mobile Ed videos, readings, and other learning activities they will be doing in Logos. You are not expected to work through all of the course content. The student's Course Portfolio will be what you assess in your mentor sessions. However, you are encouraged to explore the content in the LMS as needed, and your feedback on the curriculum is important and welcome.

Please make sure that your contact information is up to date in our system, including a personal email address. You can verify this by logging into your Populi account and viewing the contact information saved in your “My Profile” tab. We will also provide you with a Redemption Seminary Gmail account (the typical format is firstname.lastname@redemption.edu). We recommend that you use your @redemption.edu account as your primary email address for everything you do related to Redemption—student and staff correspondence, document sharing, etc. We also ask that you set up the .edu email account to send you push notifications. This is to ensure that emails reach you in a timely manner without you needing to remember to log in to webmail to check for messages. Being personally responsive to students and each other is one of our priorities.

Scheduling Mentor Sessions with Students

Two to three weeks prior to the start of a new term, Student Services (Registrar@Redemption.edu) will begin connecting you with the students who have selected you as their mentor-professor.
You will receive an email asking you to contact your students. You will see your list of courses and students in Populi, and you will find instructions for the preliminary tasks you need to complete under the “Lessons>Week Zero” section of your courses in Populi. These preliminary tasks should be accomplished as soon as possible after you receive your list of students. They include (1) setting up a 20 minute “get acquainted” meeting for any students you have not mentored before, (2) ensuring the student has shared their documents with you, and (3) scheduling your regular meeting times for the seven weekly mentoring sessions. Here is a video tutorial explaining how to track these preliminary tasks in Populi: Using Populi for Preliminary Tasks

Please respond with an acknowledgement that you received the email and will confirm completion of your preliminary tasks in Populi.

Prior to the First Mentor Session

For a student you haven't mentored previously, schedule a “get-acquainted meeting” for 20 minutes in the week prior to the term’s start date (during “week zero”). Use this meeting to look through their Program Journal and get to know each other. Let the student know that they need to have Unit 1 completed in their Course Portfolio by their first regular mentor session (the following week). If this is not your first time working with a student, record an “E” (for “Excused”) for this task in Populi.
Discuss the scheduling for your regular weekly sessions, and be sure to record the day and time that you schedule for the term’s weekly meetings by commenting on the appropriate task in Populi. Mark the “Comment” field as “Visible to Student,” so that Populi will email the comment to the student and record it for administrative purposes.
If you find that you and a student have difficulty with scheduling, you can also note this as a “Comment” on the appropriate assignment page in Populi.
Before you meet with the student, the student will need to share two Google Documents with your “@redemption.edu” email address, (1) their Program Journal (which documents their spiritual health and growth throughout the program) and (2) their Course Portfolio (which is their work product for the course, organized into seven units which correlate to your seven sessions). Some students may forget to do this, so you might need to ask them to share the documents with you. Either you or the student can post the links to these documents as a “Comment” on the appropriate task in Populi.

During the Mentoring Term

Students may record their own mentor session but mentors do not record the meeting unless instructed by the administration for a specific time and purpose. Such instances are rare, and students’ informed consent is required. Such a recording is not kept beyond its immediate use. Not recording students is our standard practice. Budget 45 minutes per student for each week of the term in which you have mentor sessions.
Five minutes prior to the mentor session (minimum), review the student’s written work in their Course Portfolio (you will continue reviewing it as you interact in the session). You are also welcome to add specific comments and suggestions directly in their Course Portfolio document using the appropriate Google Docs features.
During the 30-minute mentor session, allow the student 10-15 minutes to present their work for the unit to show that they have met the learning objectives for that unit. This does not need to be a monologue on the student’s part, and you are free to ask them clarifying questions if tied to the Unit Learning Objectives (ULOs). Avoid asking the student to respond to things they were not asked to prepare for, or which are not required by the ULOs. If you have a recommendation for a change to the curriculum, please email the academic dean. Allow another 10 minutes for the student to ask you questions and provide individualized guidance. Use the last five minutes for wrap-up, prayer, and confirming your next meeting time.
Take ten minutes after the meeting to fill out the grading rubric and record a “Comment” with personalized, formative feedback in Populi. The following video shows how to complete weekly grading tasks in Populi: Using Populi for Weekly Assessment and Feedback

After the final mentor session of a course (Unit 7) you will need to ensure that all of the assignments in the Populi gradebook for the course have been completed (no Incomplete or blank assignment grades). A student must demonstrate all competencies—for each unit and the course as a whole—at a passing level of B or above to receive credit for the course. You will also use Populi to (1) fill out holistic growth feedback and copy it to the student’s Program Journal, (2) fill out the Course Completion Rubric, and (3) add a final summative comment regarding the course as a whole. When every item in the Gradebook is filled in, all rubrics are complete and your final comment is recorded, you will then finalize the course in Populi. Finalizing the course means it is ready for administrative review and you will not be able to make any more changes to the course unless an administrator unfinalizes the course for you. It is best to complete all of your final grading steps directly after your last mentoring session with the student, to allow time for review. All final grading tasks must be finished by the end of the eighth week of a term at the latest. This video explains how to use Populi to complete your final grading tasks: Using Populi for Final Grading