Engaging with Your TA

Introductions between TAs and mentors will begin mid June and continue throughout the summer.

The Data Mine staff will extend an initial introduction via email, and it is recommended to schedule a virtual meeting with your TA as early as possible. This first meeting is a great time to introduce yourself, your company, and your project(s) with The Data Mine.

It is encouraged that mentors and TAs use the summer months to prepare for the academic year. As soon as the fall semester starts, students are eager for their projects and to begin exploring.

During the summer months, mentors and TAs should consider planning all components of the project charter:

Once the academic year starts, the roles of mentors and TAs shift away from planning and towards implementing and project development. Specifically, teams will function as scrum teams with mentors playing the role of product owners and TAs as scrum master.

Corporate partner mentors take on the role of product owner because of their direct connection to the business. They are the leader of a project and will be the decision maker for project scope and direction.

TAs perform the work of a scrum master and are the bridge between CP mentors and Purdue students. They establish agile management and teach scrum to the team. TAs also help CP mentors with project management.

Also, mentors and TAs will work together to define a consistent sprint schedule. The sprint will consist of three sprint ceremonies: sprint planning, sprint review, and sprint retrospective. Sample Schedules may look like this:

Mentor Meetings on Monday, Lab on Friday

Mentor Meetings on Tuesday, Lab on Tuesday

Mentor Meetings on Fridays, Lab on Mondays

Mentor Meetings on Thursdays, Lab on Tuesdays

The Data Mine asks that mentors and TAs jointly conduct performance reviews of their teams twice a semester (every eight weeks). These reviews are the best times to provide individual and personalized feedback to each student on your team.

Mentors and TAs should work together on these reviews. It is likely TAs will have spent more time with the team, but mentors will have an idea of if expectations are met or not. Mentors should provide their expectations to TAs, and TAs will help evaluate team members based on their personalized experiences with the team.

The ultimate goal of a mentor and TA relationship should be, what we are calling, Co-Piloting. By November, the student team, mentor, and TA will ideally be comfortable with the project, agile, and The Data Mine course. TAs and Mentors will then Co-Pilot the project where project management should feel consistent and scheduled.

The fall and spring semesters are largely the same other than the addition of The Data Mine Corporate Partners Symposium at the conclusion of the spring semester. Mentors and TAs will work together to guide the team towards a thorough presentation of their work from the academic calendar year.

Some notes to consider for the symposium: