So in addition to the clearly posted "rules" and other areas that are often ignored by incoming members as too tedious and or boreing to bother reading, would a pm message sent to every new member be a better step, or perhaps a visitor profile message as its more visible to new members with a link to the main pages rules or some other message?

I dont know myself, I would ask that Torq and Delia or any other staff members to wiegh in on the formation of a mentorship group that is going to affect the site in such a wide way if the idea is even feasible.