Mentoring is as a dynamic process by which faculty advisors and others work with graduate students to establish and foster structured and trusting relationships. By offering guidance, support, and encouragement, mentors act as advocates and role models for their mentees and are committed to helping graduate students meet their personal and professional goals. By listening actively to mentee’s concerns and aspirations, mentors can help graduate students achieve academic excellence, and advance professionally in career paths of the student’s choosing.

 

Get Involved

The Graduate Inclusive Mentoring Community

The Graduate Inclusive Mentoring Community (GIMC) seeks to build educational opportunities and community support for those who strive to excel at mentoring graduate students. 

Inclusive Research Mentoring Microcredential

The Inclusive Research Mentoring micro-credential provides training on how to enhance mentoring skills in research environments.

Mentoring Resources

Graduate School Advising Plan

This document is a supplemental strategy created to support the graduate student advisees’ short and long-term goals, while also giving advisors tools to clarify expectations.

How to Mentor Graduate Students

A detailed guide to effective mentoring: reasons for mentoring, general guidelines, advice on initial meetings, how graduate programs can encourage mentoring and much more.

Developing shared expectations (form)

Concretely walks through expectations and expected academic milestones for the student. It prompts both the advisor and the student to set goals for communication and any other aspects of their working relationship.

A Mentoring Guidebook for Faculty

Written by the Graduate Student Senate of Case Western Reserve University, this guidebook includes checklists and worksheets for faculty adviser-advisee first meetings and setting expectations, and addresses advising and mentoring within diverse communities.

Graduate Advising and Mentoring: Worst Practices

Resources for Culturally Aware Mentoring

National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN)

The NRMN is developing a national network of mentors and mentees from all biomedical disciplines to provide mentorship, professional development, mentor/mentee training, networking and resources to individuals from the undergraduate to early career faculty levels. Tools and resources offered via NRMN's website include:

  • ● MyNRMN, which is a social networking platform for students and researchers across the biomedical, behavioral, social, and clinical sciences to connect with one another.
  • ● Mentorship Training: online mentorship training for mentors and/or mentees. Mentor training follows the Entering Mentoring curricula series. Mentee training combines materials from the Entering Research series for undergraduates with the Entering Mentoring series.

Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER)

The focus of CIMER is on the development, implementation, and evaluation of mentor and mentee training using theoretically grounded, evidence-based, and culturally-responsive training interventions and investigations.

University of Minnesota CTSI Mentoring Resources

The Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) at the University of Minnesota have developed a series of self-paced, online, professional development modules designed to prepare faculty from a range of disciplines to be effective research mentors. These training modules are freely available to the public via the creation of a guest account to the UM Training Hub.