Mentor Guidelines

Guidelines and responsibilities for GSoC mentors at ProjectDiscovery

Mentor Guidelines

Guidelines and responsibilities for mentors participating in ProjectDiscovery’s Google Summer of Code program.

Mentor Role & Responsibilities

Time Commitment

Expected: 5-6 hours per week during coding period

Breakdown:

• 1-2 hours: Check-ins and meetings with contributor
• 2-3 hours: Code review and technical guidance
• 1 hour: Communication, planning, documentation
• 1 hour: Coordination with other mentors/admins

Core Responsibilities

1. Guide the contributor through their project
2. Review code regularly and provide constructive feedback
3. Communicate at least twice weekly with contributor
4. Track progress against project timeline
5. Evaluate at midterm and final checkpoints
6. Escalate issues to organization admins when needed
7. Document important decisions and changes

Pre-Program Phase

Proposal Review (April)

Tasks:

• Review all proposals for your project area
• Score proposals using evaluation criteria
• Provide feedback on technical approaches
• Participate in selection discussions
• Help rank top candidates

Evaluation Focus:

• Technical merit and feasibility
• Contributor’s understanding of the problem
• Realistic timeline and planning
• Prior community engagement
• Communication quality

Contributor Selection (Late April - Early May)

Tasks:

• Review top-ranked proposals in detail
• Check contributor’s prior contributions
• Verify technical capabilities
• Confirm availability and commitment
• Make final selection recommendations

Important: Once selections are made, mentors are committed to supporting their contributor(s) for the entire program duration.

Community Bonding Period (May 1-26)

Goals for This Phase

Help your contributor prepare for success:

1. Build relationship: Get to know each other
2. Finalize plan: Create detailed week-by-week schedule
3. Setup environment: Ensure dev environment is ready
4. Set expectations: Clarify communication norms
5. Review code: Familiarize with relevant codebase areas

Initial Meeting Agenda

Cover these topics in your first meeting:

• Introductions: Background, experience, interests
• Project review: Confirm understanding of goals
• Timeline refinement: Adjust milestones if needed
• Communication plan: When and how to check in
• Tools setup: Development environment, access
• Questions: Address any concerns

Communication Norms to Establish

Agree on:

• Check-in schedule: Days and times for regular meetings
• Communication channels: Discord, email, video calls
• Response time expectations: How quickly to respond
• Progress updates: How often and in what format
• Blocker escalation: How to handle issues

Coding Period (May 27 - Aug 31)

Weekly Routine

Minimum twice per week:

• Technical check-ins (synchronous or async)
• Code reviews
• Progress tracking
• Blocker identification

Recommended structure:

• Monday: Week planning, milestone review
• Wednesday/Thursday: Mid-week check-in, code review
• Friday: Week wrap-up, next week preview

Code Review Best Practices

What to Review:

• Code quality and style
• Test coverage
• Documentation
• Performance considerations
• Security implications
• Integration with existing code

How to Provide Feedback: ✅ Be constructive and educational ✅ Explain “why”, not just “what” ✅ Suggest improvements with examples ✅ Acknowledge good work ✅ Be timely (review within 24-48 hours)

❌ Don’t be overly critical or harsh ❌ Don’t just point out problems without guidance ❌ Don’t let PRs sit for days without feedback

Example Feedback:

❌ "This code is bad, rewrite it."

✅ "This approach works, but we can improve efficiency.
Currently O(n²) due to nested loops. Consider using
a hashmap for O(n) lookup. Here's an example: [code]

Also great job on the comprehensive test coverage!"

Tracking Progress

Weekly:

• Review commits and PRs
• Check milestone completion
• Update project tracker
• Identify any delays or blockers

Indicators of Good Progress: ✅ Regular commits (3-5+ per week) ✅ Milestones completed on time ✅ Responsive to feedback ✅ Proactive communication ✅ Quality code with tests

Warning Signs: ⚠️ No commits for 3+ days ⚠️ Not responding to messages ⚠️ Missing milestones ⚠️ Rushed code without tests ⚠️ Avoiding difficult parts

Handling Blockers

When contributor gets stuck:

1. Understand the problem: Ask questions to clarify
2. Guide don’t solve: Help them find the solution
3. Provide resources: Documentation, examples, references
4. Pair if needed: Screen share to work through issues
5. Adjust if necessary: Rescope if blocker is major

Escalate to admins if:

• Contributor becomes unresponsive (3+ days)
• Technical blocker requires org-level decision
• Scope needs significant adjustment
• Personal issues affecting participation

Evaluation Periods

Midterm Evaluation (July 7-14)

What to Assess:

• Progress: 40-50% of project completed?
• Code quality: Well-tested and documented?
• Communication: Regular and responsive?
• Trajectory: On track to complete?

Pass Criteria: ✅ Completed core milestones for first half ✅ Code quality meets standards ✅ Communicates regularly ✅ Demonstrates problem-solving ability ✅ Responsive to feedback

Fail Criteria: ❌ < 30% progress with no clear path forward ❌ Unresponsive to communication (7+ days) ❌ Poor code quality despite feedback ❌ Hasn’t made meaningful contributions ❌ Unable to work independently

Before failing: Discuss with org admins. Failing ends the contributor’s participation.

Final Evaluation (Sept 1-8)

What to Assess:

• Completion: Core deliverables finished?
• Quality: Production-ready code?
• Documentation: Comprehensive and clear?
• Tests: Good coverage and passing?
• Overall: Successful project?

Pass Criteria: ✅ All core deliverables completed ✅ Code merged or mergeable ✅ Comprehensive documentation ✅ Good test coverage (70-80%+) ✅ Positive collaboration throughout

Evaluation Form: Google provides a form covering:

• Work product quality
• Communication
• Evaluation recommendation (pass/fail)
• Narrative feedback

Best Practices

Communication

Be available:

• Respond within 24 hours
• Set up regular check-ins
• Be present in Discord
• Make yourself reachable

Be proactive:

• Check in even if contributor doesn’t
• Ask about progress regularly
• Notice warning signs early
• Celebrate wins and milestones

Technical Guidance

Teach, don’t just tell:

• Explain reasoning behind suggestions
• Share resources for learning
• Encourage exploration
• Guide problem-solving process

Balance support and independence:

• Let them struggle a bit (learning opportunity)
• Step in when truly stuck
• Encourage asking for help
• Build confidence through success

Motivation

Keep contributors engaged:

• Recognize achievements
• Provide positive reinforcement
• Show real-world impact of their work
• Connect them with the community

Address issues early:

• Notice declining engagement
• Check in on blockers
• Adjust expectations if needed
• Provide encouragement

When to Escalate

Contact organization admins if:

• ⚠️ Contributor unresponsive for 3+ days
• ⚠️ Major scope changes needed
• ⚠️ Technical decisions requiring org input
• ⚠️ Considering failing an evaluation
• ⚠️ Interpersonal conflicts
• ⚠️ You’re unable to fulfill mentor duties

Resources for Mentors

Official GSoC Resources:

• GSoC Mentor Guide
• GSoC Evaluations Guide
• GSoC Help Center

ProjectDiscovery Resources:

• Mentor Resources - Best practices and tips
• Discord #mentors channel (private)
• Weekly mentor sync meetings

Contact:

• Organization admins: [To be specified]
• Discord: #mentors channel
• Emergency: [To be specified]

Mentor Checklist

Community Bonding

• Schedule first meeting
• Review project plan in detail
• Establish communication routine
• Ensure dev environment is set up
• Set clear expectations

Coding Period

• Check in at least 2x per week
• Review code within 24-48 hours
• Track progress against milestones
• Provide constructive feedback
• Identify and help resolve blockers

Evaluations

• Complete midterm evaluation on time
• Discuss progress with contributor before evaluating
• Complete final evaluation on time
• Provide thoughtful narrative feedback
• Submit evaluations 24-48 hours before deadline

Thank you for mentoring with ProjectDiscovery! Your guidance makes GSoC successful. 🙏