Mentoring multiple projects

[bery...@gmail.com]

Hi,

I noticed the following sentence:

"Mentors should mentor 1 contributor project (not more)"

in the "Preparing for GSoC 2025" slidedeck.

Is that a hard requirement, i.e. is it really forbidden for a single mentor to mentor multiple projects at once?

Thanks for an answer.

Best,

Jakub Beránek

Rust Project org admin

[Stephanie Taylor]

I noticed the following sentence:

"Mentors should mentor 1 contributor project (not more)"

in the "Preparing for GSoC 2025" slidedeck.

Is that a hard requirement, i.e. is it really forbidden for a single mentor to mentor multiple projects at once?

Mentor burnout is definitely a major concern so we have that statement in place to try and help prevent that as much as possible,

 

This is not a hard requirement but if you have never mentored for GSoC before you definitely should have only one mentee. Other mentors on this list can chime in, but that has been the general consensus because mentors never realize how much time and energy it will truly take to mentor a GSoC contributor. Whenever someone tries to mentor 2 or 3 people during their first GSoC it is almost always a bad experience for the mentees and the mentor.

We want you to focus on giving your mentee a positive experience with open source and your community. And generally, unless you have no other time commitments (job, family, etc.) it is very difficult to try and mentor more than one person your first time as a GSoC mentor.

For people who have mentored in GSoC before they may try and have 2 mentees and that can be fine but they have learned quite a bit in the first year of two of mentoring new contributors for GSoC so it's less time intensive for them.

Some people will be the primary mentor for one person and then a backup essentially for another project. In that situation they step in for the 2nd project when the primary mentor goes on vacation or maybe if there is one particular part of the project that they have an expertise in they may help the 2nd mentee with that portion.

Best,

Stephanie

Thanks for an answer.

Best,

Jakub Beránek

Rust Project org admin

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[Muhammad Salman]

Hi Jakub,

Thank you for reaching out!

The aim is to ensure each contributor receives ample guidance and support, and from experience, mentors are most effective when they focus on one project. That said, exceptions can be made in certain cases, especially if a mentor is confident in their availability and capacity to support multiple contributors without compromising quality.

If you or any mentors from the Rust project are considering mentoring more than one contributor, please feel free to reach out directly, and we’ll be happy to discuss it further.

Best regards,
Muhammad Salman

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[Jakub Beránek]

Thank you for the great answers! In our case it's a mentor who is very enthusiastic, has a lot of experience with mentoring pekple, and already has experience being a mentor from GSoC.
We will likely put their second project at the bottom of the ranking anyway, but I wanted to know whether this scenario (multiple projects per mentor) is disallowed or just discouraged.

Thank you!
Jakub

Dne pá 25. 4. 2025 19:36 uživatel Muhammad Salman <chsalman...@gmail.com> napsal:

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[Ivan Ogasawara]

Hi Muhammad,

It is a similar case I have. I want to mentor more mentees. I have been doing that for a few years not just with gsoc, but also in internship programs and as tech leader in other projects.

This gsoc phase before the candidate selection was a bit hard .. because we were swamped by candidates messages, gh issues, PRs, proposal reviews, etc.

But after gsoc candidate selection, it should be much more calm, and I would like to discuss further the possibility to mentor multiple projects/contributors as well.

Please let me know how I could proceed about this topic. Maybe one or more mentors in my organization would be interested in that as well.

All the best,

Ivan

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[Muhammad Salman]

Hi Ivan,

The general guidance from the GSoC team is that mentors should focus on a single project to ensure quality mentorship, especially during the active coding phase. However, this is a recommendation (not a strict rule), and exceptions can be considered based on experience and availability.

I’d suggest reaching out directly to the GSoC program admins if you or others in your organization are seriously considering mentoring multiple projects. They’ll be in the best position to guide you on this.

Best Wishes,
Muhammad Salman

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[Ivan Ogasawara]

Hi Muhammad, thanks for the answer.

The general guidance from the GSoC team is that mentors should focus on a single project to ensure quality mentorship, especially during the active coding phase. However, this is a recommendation (not a strict rule), and exceptions can be considered based on experience and availability.

I’d suggest reaching out directly to the GSoC program admins if you or others in your organization are seriously considering mentoring multiple projects. They’ll be in the best position to guide you on this.

Do you mean the GSoC admins in our organization? If so, I am one of the 5 admins there. Our organization has been providing mentoring for some years, so I am very confident about that, and we have a few secondary mentors in case we need extra help.

I hope it will be enough from our side, otherwise, please let me know if there is any action needed from our side.

Thanks for the explanation.

All the best,

[Muhammad Salman]

Hi Ivan,

Thank you for the clarification, it makes perfect sense.

Given your experience and the support structure that you’ve mentioned, it sounds like your organization is well-prepared to handle multiple projects per mentor, if needed. As long as the quality of mentorship is maintained and each contributor receives the necessary guidance, this approach should be fine.

At this point, I don’t believe any further action is needed unless you hear otherwise directly from the GSoC program admins at Google.

Wishing you and your team a smooth and successful GSoC 2025!

Cheers,
Muhammad Salman

[Gary Bradski]

I don't care either way, but as someone who in the past has mentored 2 projects ... it's kind of miserable. And often, rather than 2 projects, you get 1.5 -- that is 0.75 of project 1 and 0.75 of project 2. => IMHO, prioritize. One thing done well is better than 2 half things.

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