Problem Space
The current Fedora Accounts System (FAS) lacks a field to specify mentors for each FAS user. Having a mentorship system in place can provide numerous benefits, such as fostering community engagement, tracking contributor retention based on mentorship, ensuring everyone receives mentorship, and recognizing and rewarding mentors for their valuable work.
Proposed Solution
The proposed solution is to add a mentor field to the FAS user profiles. This field will allow FAS users to designate one or more mentors who will provide guidance and support. To ensure consistency and accountability, only users belonging to a "mentors" group in FAS should be eligible as mentors.
The mentor field will empower users from the "mentors" group to assign themselves as mentors on the FAS profiles of other users they're supporting. They should also have the ability to remove themselves as mentors if they choose to do so.
Scope
The proposed solution will involve the following:
- Enhancing the FAS user profile by adding a mentor field.
- Implementing the necessary backend changes to support mentorship functionality.
- Modifying the Noggin interface to allow users in the "mentors" group to assign and remove themselves as mentors for other FAS accounts.
Active Ingredients
To implement the mentorship feature in FAS, the following prerequisites are required:
Component 1: Mentor Field in FreeIPA
Create a new field in the FreeIPA user profile schema for FAS to store the mentor information. This field should support multiple mentors for each user.
Component 2: Management UI in Noggin
Update the Noggin interface to manage the relationship, allowing approved mentors to add or remove mentees they're working with.
Discussion Points
The following points require discussion and clarification:
- User Experience: How should the mentor field be displayed in the user profile? Should it be searchable or only visible to the respective user?
- Mentor Removal: If a mentor is removed from the "mentors" group, should they continue to be a mentor on someone's profile they were mentoring?
- Analytics and Reporting: What specific metrics and analytics would be valuable to track regarding contributors and mentors? How can these be integrated into the system?
- Recognition and Rewards: How can mentors be recognized and rewarded for their contributions? Are there any specific criteria or incentives to consider?