Honors Mentor Program

Mentor Chairs, Team Leads, Mentors

• Program Management: develop important management and leadership skills to support HMP at different levels of leadership, and provide student input on programming and activities
• Facilitation: develop facilitation skills to help lead meetings with student leaders and conduct trainings with students leaders and mentees
• Mentorship and Community: create meaningful relationships with other HMP students and leaders by providing mentorship and guidance in the program 

Mentees

• Introduction to UHP: learn more about what it means to be a part of UHP + what kinds of programming and engagement opportunities we offer
• Skills: develop helpful skills and awareness to navigate your transition into UHP that you can use throughout the program
• Mentorship and Community: create meaningful relationships with a trusted mentor and other HMP students 

Team Leads 

Team Leads will have one Mentor Chair for support and seven assigned Mentors. This is a year-long program with ~20 hours of work per semester. Expectations include:

• Mentor Meetings: complete two 30-minute meetings twice per semester with each of your assigned Mentors 
  • Fall 1 meeting with your assigned Mentors should be in-person
• Chair Check-ins: complete one 30-minute meeting each semester with your assigned Mentor Chair 

If a Team Lead is consistently unable to complete their responsibilities, (i.e. missing meetings), they will be ineligible to earn an Honors Experience and/or will be removed from the program.

See Team Lead commitment form for more details

Mentors

Mentors will have one Team Lead for support and approximately 3 Mentees assigned to them. This is a year-long program with ~10 hours of work per semester. Expectations include:

• Mentee Meetings: omplete two 30-minute meetings twice per semester with each of your assigned Mentees 
  • Fall 1 meeting with your assigned mentees should be in-person 
• Honors Events: attend 2-3 events per year with each of your assigned Mentees  
• Team Lead Meetings: complete two 30-minute meetings twice per semester with your assigned Team Lead 

If a Mentor is consistently unable to complete their responsibilities, they will be be removed from the program.

See Mentor commitment form for more details

Honors Mentor Program Meeting Deadlines

Fall 2026 meetings start Monday, September 14th, 2026  

• Fall 1: Friday, October 23rd, 2026 

• Fall 2: Friday, December 11th, 2026 

Spring 2027 meetings start Monday, January 25th, 2027 

• Spring 1: Friday, March 5th, 2026 

• Spring 2: Friday, April 30th, 2027 

Student Leaders complete the HMP Requirements Completion Form after each program requirement (i.e. meeting or event)
Chair Check-ins should be completed by the second meeting deadline each semester 

All HMP student leaders should join the GroupMe group.

Flow of Support:

Student Engagement Coordinator and Mentor Chairs → Team Leads → Mentors + Mentees 

Conflict with assigned Mentor:

• Facilitate 1:1 conversation with the Mentor
• Work with your Mentor Chair: come up with strategies / have Mentor Chair mediate another conversation
• Escalate to Student Engagement Coordinator 

Conflict with Mentor Chair:

• Facilitate 1:1 conversation with Mentor Chair
• Escalate to Student Engagement Coordinator 
   

Student self-disclosure: mental health, discrimination, harm, etc.

• Immediately bring to Student Engagement Coordinator 

HMP General Information

• HMP website: honors.umn.edu/hmp 
• HMP Canvas Training Hub
• Reach out to [email protected] with any general questions / concerns

Specific Questions / Concerns:

• Mentor Chairs: 
  • Reetu Gurung (she/her/hers): [email protected]
  • Sutra Iyer (she/her/hers): [email protected]
  • Thelma Benitez (she/her/hers): [email protected]
• Student Engagement Coordinator: 
  • Arpum Mehmi (she/her/hers): [email protected] 

Mentor Chairs and Team Leads both receive an Honors experience credit for participating in the program. At this time, Mentors and Mentees do not receive credit for an Honors experience.

Mentor Chairs (Juniors / Seniors) 

• Application review and input on programming and structure 
• Facilitate biweekly Team Lead meetings, facilitate activities for Kickoff
• Check in with assigned Team Leads 
   

Team Leads (Juniors / Seniors)

• Attend 2 summer training sessions and biweekly meetings to learn mentorship skills 
• Meet with assigned Mentor Chair and Mentor(s) each semester for 1 year
   

Mentors (Sophomores/Juniors / Seniors)

• Attend Mentor training session in summer to learn mentorship skills 
• Meet with assigned Team Lead and Mentee(s) each semester for 1 year
• Attend 2-3 central office / student org events per year (including Mentor Program Kickoff) per semester 
   

Mentees (Freshmen/Incoming PFA)

• Meet with your Mentor four times over the year (two meetings each semester) 
• Attend Mentor Program Kickoff and 2-3 events hosted by the UHP office, the University Honors Student Association (UHSA), or the Honors Multicultural Network (HMN)

Mentors are matched 1:1 / 1:2 with Mentee(s) based on college, major, and interests. Mentor Chairs and Team Leads can have up to 5 students each. 

Attending the summer training session(s) is mandatory for all Mentor Chairs, Team Leads, and Mentors in the program. Students will learn foundational mentorship skills, what to expect in the program, and prepare for meeting with their assigned students.