Petro Mohyla National University of Chernivtsi hosted a training session for mentors as part of the international project “Promoting professional education and active participation of students through the development of a comprehensive system of mentoring and tutoring in higher education institutions”
On April 10-11, 2025, a mentor training was held at the Petro Mohyla Black Sea National University under the EU Erasmus+ project 101082696-PROMENT “Promoting professional education and active participation of students through the formation of a comprehensive system of mentoring and tutoring in higher education institutions.” This international project unites Ukrainian and European universities and promotes ideas for developing students’ skills in accordance with new living conditions and new labor market conditions.
The training was attended by scientific and pedagogical workers and the administration of the higher education institution, representatives of government and local self-government bodies, the banking sector, representatives of the prosecutor’s office, representatives of the spheres of entrepreneurship and business, the Mykolaiv Regional Employment Center, as well as interested members of the public.
The purpose of the training was to improve the skills of mentors for professional mentoring of students, which will contribute to adaptation to the real conditions of the labor market and increase the employment rate of graduates.
Welcoming speeches on the occasion of the start of the training were delivered by the rector of Petro Mohyla ChNU Leonid Klymenko, the institutional coordinator of the PROMENT project at Petro Mohyla ChNU Alla Koval, and the head of the T&M Center at Petro Mohyla ChNU Dmytro Sichko.
During the general section of the training, participants listened to lectures on the role of a mentor in the professional development and employment of students according to the methodology of the PROMENT project, the features of goal-setting in the activities of mentors and mentees, and the T&M activities of the PROMENT Center at Petro Mohyla National University of Chernivtsi to promote the professional development and employment of students.
In addition, the audience participated in training exercises such as the “Tree of Expectations”, “Wall of Fame”, “Mentor Identity”, as well as exercises aimed at determining the expectations, readiness, prerequisites and positive qualities of mentors, and emphasizing the mentor’s competencies, qualities and skills.
The second half of the mentor training included six parallel sessions: professional mentoring (moderator – Dmytro Sichko), mentoring of internally displaced persons and persons with disabilities (moderator – Alla Koval), digital mentoring and mentoring in the field of business and startups (moderator – Olena Filimonova), mentoring in the field of green technologies (moderator – Eluchka Kazaryan), gender mentoring “Women in Science” (moderator – Anna Solovyova), and mentoring on internationalization for students going abroad (moderator – Olena Filimonova).
The event brought together a significant number of professionals in their fields, ready to share their experience with the students.
In particular, in the field of professional mentoring, the training was attended by Maryna Vasilyeva, an artist of the highest category, head of the literary and dramaturgical part of the Mykolaiv Academic Art Drama Theater, Honored Artist of Ukraine; Galina Voitsekhovska, head of the socio-cultural activity department of the Mykolaiv Regional Universal Scientific Library named after O. Hmyryov; Anastasia Shulga, candidate of science in public administration, associate professor of the Department of Public Administration and Administration of Petro Mohyla Chernysh National University; Tetyana Zadoyan, deputy head of the BP “Linguist”; Alena Chernyuk, methodologist of the Department of Theory and Methods of Language, Literary and Artistic and Aesthetic Education of the MOIPPO; German language teacher of Lyceum No. 19 of the Mykolaiv City Council; Nadiya Zagorueva, chief specialist of the Department of Analysis of Socio-Political Processes and Public Communications of the Department of Information Activities and Public Communications of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration; Svitlana Matgiassen, HR business partner of JSC KB PrivatBank; Yulia Tatenko, entrepreneur, trainer, founder of an HR company.
In the context of mentoring internally displaced persons and persons with disabilities, the training was attended by Iryna Lubkovska, Deputy Head of Department, Head of the Employment Department of the Ingul Department of the Mykolaiv Branch of the Mykolaiv Regional Employment Center; Yulia Levkovych, Regional Lawyer in the Mykolaiv and Kherson Regions of the Stabilization Support Services Charitable Foundation; Olena Kapliy, Head of the Council on IDP Issues at the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, Candidate of Law, Associate Professor of the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law and Process of the Petro Mohyla National University of Ukraine; Svitlana Odintsova, Lawyer, Advocacy Specialist, Trainer; Spartak Ghukasyan, Representative of the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in the Mykolaiv Region; Tetyana Pustovoitenko, Consultant on Youth Initiatives, NGO “Desyate Avrila”; Lada Zakharova, Psychologist-Consultant, Trainer, Specialist of the Office of Social and Psychological Support of the Petro Mohyla National University of Ukraine; Olga Stepanenko, Head of the Public Organization “Mykolaiv Regional Organization of the All-Ukrainian Organization “Union of Persons with Disabilities of Ukraine”; Yuriy Stepanets, Deputy of the Mykolaiv City Council; Halyna Zhukova, Deputy Head of the Mykolaiv Regional Branch of the Fund for Social Protection of Persons with Disabilities; Lyudmila Bashkatova, Head of the Department of Social Payments and Compensations of the Ingul District.
In the areas of digital mentoring and mentoring in the field of business and startups, the training was joined by Yuriy Reshetnyk, IT specialist, chief analyst of the Head Office of JSC KB Privatbank; Maksym Salyutin, IT specialist, lecturer of the Department of Computer Science; Stefaniya Bondarenko, IT specialist, lecturer of the Department of Software Engineering, Project coordinator at Mykolaiv IT Cluster; Oleksandr Skakodub, IT specialist, lecturer of the Department of Intelligent Information Systems; Viktor Ralenko, IT specialist, lecturer of the Department of Software Engineering; Vasyl Sannikov, Chief Software Development Manager of the Head Office of JSC KB Privatbank; Nataliya Ishchenko, Candidate of Economic Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Economics and Entrepreneurship, mentor of the project “Regional Acceleration Center GCIP for Innovations, Technologies and Innovative Startups in Mykolaiv Region”; Artem Lopatin, lecturer at the Department of Economics and Entrepreneurship, mentor of the project “Regional Acceleration Center GCIP for Innovations, Technologies and Innovative Startups in Mykolaiv Region”; Ivan Burlachenko, senior lecturer at the Department of Computer Engineering, programmer, member of the IEEE organization, member of the IEEE organization, mentor of the project “Regional Acceleration Center GCIP for Innovations, Technologies and Innovative Startups in Mykolaiv Region”; Olga Raku-Vashchylenko, Deputy Director of the Center for Business Support and Economic Development; Olga Kupchyshyna, Deputy Head of the Main Department of the State Tax Service in Mykolaiv Region, Candidate of Economic Sciences, Associate Professor, 3rd Rank Civil Servant.
In the area of mentoring in the field of green technologies, the training was attended by Iryna Babiy, Head of the Department of Implementation of Environmental Policy of the City Sustainable Development Department of the Housing and Communal Services Department of the Mykolaiv City Council; Denys Medvedev, Head of the Department for Effective Use of Natural Resources and Energy Management of the Department of Energy, Energy Saving and Implementation of Innovative Technologies of the Mykolaiv City Council; Ilona Milko, Chief Specialist of the Department of State Environmental Supervision (Control) of Water Resources of the Mykolaiv Region of the State Environmental Inspectorate of the South-Western District; Diana Krysinska, Candidate of Technical Sciences, Acting Associate Professor of the Department of Ecology of Petro Mohyla Chernivtsi National University; Oksana Petrenko, Senior Lecturer of the Department of Olympic and Professional Sports, Head of the Sports Club of Petro Mohyla Chernivtsi National University, Member of the NGO “Needed Here”, Regional Assistant of the UPSHIFT Youth Program.
Under the gender mentoring scheme “Women in Science”, the following actively participated in the training: Tetyana Lushagina, Candidate of Political Sciences, Head of the Department of Sociology and Political Science of Petro Mohyla ChNU; Iryna Tykhonenko, Candidate of Political Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of International Relations and Foreign Policy of Petro Mohyla ChNU; Anna Solovyova, Candidate of Political Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Journalism of Petro Mohyla ChNU; Olena Filimonova, Candidate of Economic Sciences, Leading Specialist of the Department of International Relations of Petro Mohyla ChNU; Alla Koval, Doctor of Law, Professor of the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law and Process of Petro Mohyla ChNU; Alina Iovcheva, Candidate of Political Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of History of Petro Mohyla ChNU; Head of the NGO “Partnership for Development”.
In the area of internationalization mentoring for students going abroad, the training was joined by Olena Filimonova, Candidate of Economic Sciences, Leading Specialist of the Department of International Relations; Lyudmila Sherstyuk, Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Philology, Academic Coordinator of the Cooperation Program with the University of Saarland (Germany); Serhiy Ponomarenko, Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Ukrainian Philology and Intercultural Communication of the Faculty of Philology, Academic Coordinator of the Cooperation Program with the University of Palermo (Italy); Natalia Piterova, Senior Lecturer (Spanish) of the Department of Romance-Germanic Philology, Academic Coordinator of the Erasmus+ KA171 Academic Mobility Program at the University of Cadiz (Spain).
Thematic sessions of mentors began with a presentation of each of the mentoring schemes from the PROMENT project implementers at Petro Mohyla National University of Chernivtsi, and also included training exercises dedicated to formulating the needs, challenges, opportunities and prospects of mentoring, forming a model of interaction between mentoring participants, as well as case studies on the experience of mentoring in relevant fields of activity.
Each session concluded with reflection, presentation, and discussion of the results.
There were more than 50 registered participants in total. Most of the participants were predominantly from Mykolaiv and the Mykolaiv region.
The event was held in a mixed (online/offline) format, meaning that participants could communicate directly in the auditorium of the Petro Mohyla Black Sea National University and join the discussion online, as this format is optimal for holding events of this type.
The importance of conducting a training dedicated to improving the qualifications of mentors for mentoring students, and of the PROMENT project itself, is undeniable, as it is about promoting adaptation to real labor market conditions and improving the employability of graduates.