Mentors not wanting to stay

[michael5402]

One of our biggest problems this year is our mentors not wanting to stay and letting us work on the robot. We have had several times where we asked them to stay later and we are told we are done when they want to go home. We only have three mentors and two of them rotate days to watch us. We have all so had days where we did not have school, not weather related, and we asked them to come in and they wouldn't. We currently have the robot in the bag not completed that we bagged around 6 o'clock yesterday because they did not want to stay later. Several people on our team feel like they are there to just baby sit us. Any time we have tried to talk to them it seems like the response always is you will do what I say and usually is in a raised tone of voice.

I was just wondering if any other teams have had problems with there mentors and them wanting to stay. I know it is hard on three of them but they knew what they signed up for.

[BrendanB]

Originally Posted by michael5402

One of our biggest problems this year is our mentors not wanting to stay and letting us work on the robot. We have had several times where we asked them to stay later and we are told we are done when they want to go home. We only have three mentors and two of them rotate days to watch us. We have all so had days where we did not have school, not weather related, and we asked them to come in and they wouldn't. We currently have the robot in the bag not completed that we bagged around 6 o'clock yesterday because they did not want to stay later. Several people on our team feel like they are there to just baby sit us. Any time we have tried to talk to them it seems like the response always is you will do what I say and usually is in a raised tone of voice.

I was just wondering if any other teams have had problems with there mentors and them wanting to stay. I know it is hard on three of them but they knew what they signed up for.

What did they sign up for?

Keep in mind your mentors are donating their time to be at the shop with you and not every mentor is capable of staying all hours a team could possibly meet. Maybe it is something to have a team discussion over but keep an open mind to what your mentors can or cannot give. Just like sponsors you need mentors to run.

[Jon Stratis]

One of the hardest parts of mentoring an FRC team is balancing one's personal schedule. Many teams want to meet right after school (usually around 3:00)... but many mentors can't get off work until 5:00. Sometimes schools have vacation/holiday that doesn't match with mentors employees, so students want to meet but mentors may need to work. Many mentors also have families, and need to balance their involvement with the team with actually seeing their families once in a while. It's tough, it's really really tough.

I suggest talking with your mentors about their other time commitments. Work to understand why they are committing to the schedule they have so far, and express your gratitude for their time. Work to make it less confrontational and more constructive.

Then you can talk with them about your desire to expand the program. Ask them for help recruiting more mentors - with more mentors you can probably meet longer and get more done!

[Fusion_Clint]

1. Are the students really being productive? If my team is not being productive for several hours and then wants to stay late, why should I?

If I have students that are busting their butts and want to finish a task, I'll stay as late as needed.

2. I'm assuming you are based out of a school? If so, you need to find the teacher that is crazy enough to put in the required time.

Petition your school district to give the teacher a coaching stipend. To be a successful team you need a teacher that is willing to make this a year long adventure and a stipend may help you recruit one.

3. It takes a special kind of lunatic to be the school sponsor/mentor for an FRC team; when you get one be thankful.

[Peyton Yeung]

I know in our situation, most of our mentors are college students so we can't always be at meetings and the school limits when the team can meet (Monday and Wednesday afternoons, Friday nights, and Saturdays). I'd like to stay later but the fact of matter is we have obligations to attend to as well. I'd talk to your mentors about your situation and see if you can make a plan for what needs to be achieved at each meeting.

[mrnoble]

Originally Posted by Fusion_Clint

1. Are the students really being productive? If my team is not being productive for several hours and then wants to stay late, why should I?

If I have students that are busting their butts and want to finish a task, I'll stay as late as needed.

2. I'm assuming you are based out of a school? If so, you need to find the teacher that is crazy enough to put in the required time.

Petition your school district to give the teacher a coaching stipend. To be a successful team you need a teacher that is willing to make this a year long adventure and a stipend may help you recruit one.

3. It takes a special kind of lunatic to be the school sponsor/mentor for an FRC team; when you get one be thankful.

Someone UNDERSTANDS!!!

[2544HCRC]

Originally Posted by mrnoble

Someone UNDERSTANDS!!!

Couldn't have said it better.

Might I add that mentors are usually as committed as the team. There are some days when I want to shut things down early because I am babysitting and students are not being productive. I generally don't, but I have in the past sent the team home because it was a big party on my time. I love being a mentor, but you have to know I really don't want to just "hang out" with a bunch of high school kids.

[sanelss]

To a degree, mentors are certainly there to babysit(in the sense that there needs to be an adult around, you can't just leave a bunch of kids unattended while working with potentially dangerous equipment).

I can't speak for all of them, but I think mentors already give as much as they can. If they have other obligations or simply just want to call it a day for whatever reason then that should be respected. If you've already tried talking to them about it and they can't fill that need for the team then try to explore other options like finding more mentors or just dealing with the situation as best you can.

I can't say I know your teams situation but when I see kids just screwing around most of the day(or most of build season for that matter) instead of doing the things they were supposed to be working on then the last thing I'm going to be doing is staying longer than I planned on.

[logank013]

First of all, being in the district is a good thing. In accordance of section 5.5.2 of the admin manual, you have 6 hours to work on your robot on the 7 days before a competition. So you still have 6 hours to work on your robot before your first competition.

Secondly, that is sad to hear that your mentors don't want to stay over but remember, they are volunteers, and they do need their time. My biggest tip would be to have members on your team do as much as possible at home by themselves. I'm not sure what all your team does, but try doing as much CAD, Scouting, PR, and other prep work at home. Basically, since your time at the shop is limited, only do the stuff that can only be done at the shop in that time. Make sense?

Lastly, I'm not sure if you were on the team last year but your team had a heck of a rookie season last year. You guys got to worlds last year by being good at mid season changes. Your robot started out last year pretty good but you guys made a major change part way through that let you play at an even higher level. I bet your team can do the same this year. Don't let a bad first competition performance put a damp on your team.

If you have any questions or want to talk more in private, fee free to PM me.

[michael5402]

I know they have a busy schedules and they have family. Its not like we have asked them to stay late all six weeks. It has just been the last couple days and for all of them not to be there on bag day and not wanting to stay late on day up set some of the member on the team. The fact that we only needed one part ,which broke that day, to be finished and they would not let us go get the part mad us a little mad. We are only a 15 minute drive from andy mark and could have easily got the part and fixed the robot. I personally and on the drive team and we have had hardly any practice time. We did go to a week zero event but left fairly early because we had some major problems. I was on the drive team last year and las year we had a different mentor who always stayed late and two keep in mine two of our mentors are teachers and the other is a retired electrical, so having practice around there work schedule is not a problem.

[logank013]

Originally Posted by michael5402

I know they have a busy schedules and they have family. Its not like we have asked them to stay late all six weeks. It has just been the last couple days and for all of them not to be there on bag day and not wanting to stay late on day up set some of the member on the team. The fact that we only needed one part ,which broke that day, to be finished and they would not let us go get the part mad us a little mad. We are only a 15 minute drive from andy mark and could have easily got the part and fixed the robot. I personally and on the drive team and we have had hardly any practice time. We did go to a week zero event but left fairly early because we had some major problems. I was on the drive team last year and las year we had a different mentor who always stayed late and two keep in mine two of our mentors are teachers and the other is a retired electrical, so having practice around there work schedule is not a problem.

Like I was saying, you have 6 hours to work on the robot at your shop in the 7 days leading up to your first event. Also, remember that you can work on your robot as much as you want to (fitting within 30 lbs of prefabricated parts) at competitions. If it is just one minor part, you should have it fixed within your 6 hours of unbag time.

[jweston]

Originally Posted by michael5402

I know they have a busy schedules and they have family. Its not like we have asked them to stay late all six weeks. It has just been the last couple days and for all of them not to be there on bag day and not wanting to stay late on day up set some of the member on the team. The fact that we only needed one part ,which broke that day, to be finished and they would not let us go get the part mad us a little mad. We are only a 15 minute drive from andy mark and could have easily got the part and fixed the robot. I personally and on the drive team and we have had hardly any practice time. We did go to a week zero event but left fairly early because we had some major problems. I was on the drive team last year and las year we had a different mentor who always stayed late and two keep in mine two of our mentors are teachers and the other is a retired electrical, so having practice around there work schedule is not a problem.

I've mentored every single day this build season, including 19.5 hrs from Sunday to bag alone. Mentors do this because they care a ton about the students and love robotics almost as much. But they do have other things in their lives that take them away.

Having three mentors covering 6 weeks of build is asking a great deal of them. Please don't presume to know what goes on in the lives of any of your mentors, regardless of who they are. I'm sure they miss the time with the team as long as they feel like the students are engaged. It's critical to the success of a team to get as many supportive mentors as you can, both engineering and non-engineering. Even the most dedicated mentor can be overwhelmed or burn out when stretched too thin.

I recommend talking to your mentors about trying recruiting additional mentors. Please bear in mind that the students should be doing a fair amount of the legwork, but it definitely needs to be done in cooridination with your current mentors. Good options are parents (especially for non-engineering tasks) or local professional engineering societies (ASME, IEEE, SWE, NSBE, ACM, Alpha Pi Mu, Pi Tau Sigma, Tau Beta Pi, etc.). If you're lucky, perhaps one of your sponsors has an employee volunteer program.

[Roboshant]

Originally Posted by logank013

In accordance of section 5.5.2 of the admin manual, you have 6 hours to work on your robot on the 7 days before a competition. So you still have 6 hours to work on your robot before your first competition.

Does this include the pit setup day before the first day of quals (Thursday)?

[logank013]

Originally Posted by Roboshant

Does this include the pit setup day before the first day of quals (Thursday)?

Here's what the game manual says:

Teams may unlock their robot for a total of six (6) hours during the 7-day period preceding any two-day
event in which their team will be competing with their robot. The six hours may be broken up in any way
the team wishes, with the exception that no single access period may be shorter than two (2) hours. The
robot must be locked up in between sessions and this must be documented on the Robot Lock-up Form
each time.

I believe this is 6 hours before competitions. Not including pit setup. So my guess is if you have competition matches on Friday and Saturday and pit set up is Thursday Night, I don't think you can work on your robot Thursday night. Remember, this is only for district competitions. Not regionals.

Edit: The admin manual also states that you can work on your robot at competitions when your lock up form has been seen by an inspector and the pits have been opened for robot work. I believe most events allow robot work on pit setup night. If they approve work in the pits on pit set up night, this is NOT including your 6 hours of Unbag time.

[Andy A.]

Have you asked your mentors what it would take to get them more personally invested?