On January 23, 2025, the final pitching of the first stage of piloting mentoring and tutoring schemes took place at Petro Mohyla National University of Kyiv. The event was organized within the framework of the EU Erasmus+ 101082696-PROMENT “Promoting professional education and active participation of students through the development of a comprehensive system of mentoring and tutoring in higher education institutions.”

According to the coordinator of the PROMENT project, Alla Koval, the main objective of the meeting was to discuss whether we managed to achieve the goal that the team set for ourselves – to help our students adapt to their studies and decide on their future profession, and to test the possibilities of professions on ourselves.

Conducting the final pitching based on the results of the first stage of piloting mentoring and tutoring schemes is an important stage in the implementation of the EU Erasmus+ project 101082696-PROMENT.

In particular, the project is implemented in three areas: the first scheme is mentoring young teachers, the second scheme is tutors, which are 1st year students who have just entered and who need both moral support and assistance in the educational process, and possibly motivational guidance, and the third scheme is authorities and local governments, where employees of the Faculty of Law and the Educational and Scientific Institute of Public Management and Administration are involved. Most of the activities took place on the basis of the Center for Tutoring and Mentoring of Petro Mohyla National University of Kyiv.

This event allows participants to demonstrate the achievements they have made during the pilot implementation of mentoring and tutoring programs in higher education institutions.

As noted by Olena Filimonova, manager of the PROMENT project, many events were held both for senior students, who could join the attempt to work out professional skills with their mentors to build a future career, and for freshmen who have just entered the university for the first time and are trying to adapt to this system.

Pitching facilitates the exchange of best practices among all participants, provides an opportunity to assess the effectiveness of approaches and identify the strengths and weaknesses of the implemented models. Such an event also allows for the involvement of experts and stakeholders in the assessment, ensuring objectivity and feedback.

The meeting began with welcoming remarks from representatives of the Tutoring and Mentoring Center and scheme leaders.

Mentors who actively participated in the first stage of piloting the mentoring and tutoring schemes were also given the floor to welcome and share their experiences regarding participation in the program and its results.

In particular, Maryna Kobak, Head of the Department of Judicial Process Support and Analytical and Statistical Work of the Mykolaiv District Administrative Court, spoke about the statistics of the successfully chosen training approach – graduates of the Faculty of Law of Petro Mohyla National University of Chernivtsi choose a professional path in the Mykolaiv District Administrative Court:

“…from August 2024 to mid-January 2025, 6 graduates of the faculty came to work at the court…”

The event also provided an opportunity for mentees to speak, sharing the experience they had gained, talking about the skills and competencies they had acquired, and making suggestions for the future implementation of the project.

Oleksandra, a law student at Petro Mohyla National University of Ukraine, says that they had the opportunity to go to various specialized institutions:

“We were at the customs and judicial institutions, it was the district administrative court. And we also had the opportunity to talk to the teachers about their professional activities and their experience. When a teacher speaks, you don’t focus so much, thinking that it’s easy, but when you speak as a tutor, you understand how difficult it is to focus the audience, how difficult it is to find common communication, how to generally find something interesting.”

An important event at the event was the speeches of tutors and mentees, who shared with the audience their impressions and insights gained while participating in events organized by the Tutoring and Mentoring Center.

All participants of the event received certificates of participation in the project.

The meeting had a so-called mixed format, meaning that some participants could communicate directly in the auditorium of the Petro Mohyla Black Sea National University, while the rest of the participants joined the event online. This format facilitated a lively discussion on important and pressing topics.

The final pitching is a platform for sharing the acquired experience and its further adaptation at the level of other higher education institutions in Ukraine and Europe. It helps to create synergy between participants, stimulates the professional development of mentors and tutors, and also contributes to improving conditions for students. In the context of the PROMENT project, this event allows to consolidate the role of mentoring and tutoring as effective tools for supporting students in their studies and their integration into the educational environment. Thus, the final pitching not only summarizes the first stage, but also sets a strategic direction for further work on improving the mentoring and tutoring system.