To evaluate the Te Rau Puawai programme, the Ministry of Health commissioned the Maori and Psychology Research Unit of the University of Waikato in July 2001. The overall aim of the evaluation was to provide the Ministry with a clearer understanding of the programme including: the perceived critical success factors, the barriers if any regarding Te Rau Puawai, the impact of the programme, the extent to which the programme may be transferable, gaps in the programme, and suggested improvements. As an integral component of the Te Rau Puawai programme and as a specialised source of support, academic mentors were identified as an important group to receive comment from. This report documents the evaluative exchange that occurred by way of email questionnaire, that we had with 18 out of 46 academic mentors of Te Rau Puawai bursars in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences responded to our questionnaire.