Before The Program

If you have been contributing to an organization that has been accepted into Google Summer of Code, you might discover that you want to Mentor a Student in the program. Here's some information about participating as a Mentor.

Mentor registration

The first (and required) step in becoming a Mentor is to have a discussion with the Organization Administrator of the organizations for which you are interested in mentoring. Once you have both agreed that you are qualified, you can then must create create a profile in Melange and apply. Please remember that you need to have a Google account in order to register and create a profile with the program. If you don't have a Google account, you will need to sign up for one at http://accounts.google.com/signup.

To create a profile, press Login on the left hand navigation bar from the homepage. Once you have logged in with your Google account, go to the box that reads "students: apply now!" and click on the Or register as a mentor link in the middle of the homepage.

 

This will bring you to the "Register as a Mentor" page. You will need to fill in your name, email address, home address, and other optional information. You can also fill in your shipping address (if different from your home address) for any items that will be mailed to you during the year. 

Important points:

Make sure that your Public Name is professional and consistent with the name or handle you use within your project. For example, if your name is Bill Chow and you go by "bchow" on your project mailing list, you might choose "Bill_Chow" or "bchow" as your "Public Name".  Please do not choose a Public Name that is potentially offensive, such as "jacktheripper".

For "Public Email", please enter an email address to be used by Organization Administrators or students seeking additional information. It is strongly advised that you use the email address associated with the Google Account information you provided during the application process but it is not required. This email will be used as the primary mode of contact by Google throughout the program, e.g. the email address which we will use to subscribe you to the Google Summer of Code Mentors/Organization Administrators-only mailing list or the email to contact you if there is a shipping issue.

For IM Handle and Home Page and Blog URL, please note that these are not required text fields. Leave these fields blank if you do not use these systems or if you prefer not to share that information.

You'll need to press Submit at the bottom of the page. You will remain able to edit your profile after submission.

Once you have created a profile in Melange you can apply to be a Mentor for the particular organization (or organizations) with which you would like to work. To apply to be a Mentor for each organization, you should first click on the list of Mentoring Organizations on the homepage. Find each organization for which you are interested in mentoring in the list and click on their name. Click on the Request link to apply to be a Mentor on the organization's homepage.

 

You will find a form in which you can include a message to the organization about why you would like to participate in the program. Please provide information that will help an Organization Administrator evaluate your request. Then press the Submit button.

How do I know if I have been accepted as a Mentor?

You can review the status of your request in My Dashboard -> My Requests. If you are accepted by the Organization Administrator for that organization, you will receive an email welcoming you to the program, and your dashboard will be expanded with additional items appropriate to the current program phase. If your request is rejected, you will not receive an email. Once the status of your request is changed to Accepted, you are officially a Mentor for that organization. You may participate as a Mentor with as many organizations as you like and as is appropriate for you. You can also withdraw any requests by accessing them from My Dashboard -> My Requests.