TSL 2.0 Mentor Buddies

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Along with free form volunteering to help the Teen Second Life community at your leisure, Mentor Buddies are well-versed, experienced volunteers within the group who are willing to be contacted directly by other volunteers. This is entirely an optional role and may come with extra responsibility, but for many of you who already want to help new volunteers get their feet wet, this is the directory you have been looking to join for a while now.

Purposes for new volunteers to contact Mentor Buddies may be the following:

• Advice on how, where, and when to volunteer.
• Advice on where to direct a resident concern or how to solve a resident issue.
• Advice on how to respond to unexpected circumstances, such as abuse related concerns.
• To request a tour of volunteering hot spots, show how volunteering may be done in a particular region or setting.

How New Volunteers May Find a Mentor Buddy

In short: Edit>Groups>TSL Mentors 2.0>Info>Members & Roles>Members/Roles

(At the top task bar within Second Life, choose Edit > Groups. Highlight the TSL 2.0 Mentors group, and click the Info button on the right hand side. Choose the Members & Roles tab next to the General tab along the top of the window. A list of Mentors Online can be filtered through the Members tab, and a list of Mentor Buddies can be found in the Roles tab. Buddies may also have a Buddy Pager. Please read about how to get one here: Teen Second Life Buddy Center

• Remember, if you are contacting a Mentor Buddy and the one you reach is busy, please respect the privacy of the Mentor Buddy. While he or she did opt into this Mentor role, all volunteers are free to enjoy a Second Life experience outside of volunteering. As such, you may be asked to contact another Mentor Buddy, or may be told simply that the Mentor Buddy is busy and may need to address your concern at a later time. Still, Mentor Buddies are enthusiastic to help when they can. Please be sure to thank them for their assistance!

Finer Points on a Mentor Buddy's Responsibility:

Ability to answer these questions and requests is at the discretion of the Mentor Buddy. If you, as a Mentor Buddy, are occupied or unavailable to help when contacted, THIS IS OKAY. However, please make it your responsibility to communicate your availability to the volunteer who is looking to you for help, and/or request that they speak to another Mentor Buddy if that is needed. During volunteer orientation, we will convey as best as possible that the Mentor Buddy role is optional and that Mentor Buddies may not be available upon request. We want the Mentor Buddy role to be as pain free as possible, but also note that the added responsibility is something that must be handled with great care.

Requirements for Maintaining Mentor Buddy Status:

The primary purpose of the Mentor Buddy system is to help new volunteers get acquainted with the volunteer program by showing them the ropes. As such, we ask that Mentor Buddies be willing to say "Hello!" at one orientation session for new volunteers and let the attendees of the orientation know that for that particular group you are willing to take questions from them during their first month of volunteering. If no orientations are scheduled, Buddies may be asked to attend one of the general Mentor meetings and speak briefly at that time. In order for this to work, VTeam members who are hosting orientation sessions or Mentor meetings may review the list of online "Mentor Buddies" prior to an orientation session or meeting and ask one or more Mentor Buddy to attend. Because Second Life Volunteers are not required to volunteer at any set time, it is absolutely ok to ask to attend at a later date. We will keep a list of those who have spoken and mark whether or not you would like to attend more than one of these orientation sessions or meetings.

Initial sign up for this position will not require that you speak in front of the orientation attendees or at a meeting. However, we ask that to keep this position over time that you do attend one to represent yourself as a Mentor Buddy. No "cut off" date or deadline is set presently for speaking at these orientation sessions or meetings, and should one be created, plenty of notice will be given to those who wish to maintain their status as Mentor Buddy.

How to Become a Mentor Buddy:

If you would like to sign up to be a part of this program, please click the survey link below and fill out a short form indicating your interest in the role: Sign Up Here!

How to Voluntarily Exit this Role:

Leaving the Mentor Buddy role behind and returning to the Everybody role can be accomplished by speaking to a VTeam member during one of their office hours, found here: Volunteer Specialist Office Hours