Your academic mentor can provide advice, guidance and mentoring on a range of academic and pastoral topics that might arise during your time in the department and at LSE. They can share their experience, answer questions and provide advice on your programme, courses and academic life at LSE, and signpost you to the relevant support services within the LSE community.
You will receive an email from the department at the start of the academic year with the name and contact details of your academic mentor. Usually, a group meeting is set up for you at the start of the year, so you can meet your mentor and meet fellow students in your mentor group. As a guide, you should then aim to meet your mentor at least twice each term.
The academic mentoring relationship requires both of you to be engaged and to contribute to the working relationship. You will get the most from it by proactively booking and attending office hours so you can get to know each other, which is helpful for when student life is going both well and not so well. This means that if you do experience any issues, you have someone familiar to go to so these can be addressed and dealt with before they potentially grow. Communicating regularly with your mentor, for example if you are unable to attend a class or want to discuss your most recent formative assessment feedback, helps both of you to understand how you are finding your studies.
Meetings should give you space to raise any questions and to ask for advice, and you can let your mentor know how things are going or if there are areas you'd like to work on. Your academic mentor may also be able to act as a reference for you as you progress your career or move into further studies, which is one of the many reasons why actively engaging with them during your time at LSE is important.
If you are unsure on who your academic mentor is, please contact your programme manager in the first instance.