UC Davis faculty member speaking with two mentees

Strategic Pillar Two: Mentoring and Professional Development

Goal 2-A

Establish mentoring programs focused on advancing effective faculty-student mentorship.

Potential Activities, Projects and Initiatives 
  • Create a faculty mentor training program to increase mentor skill development, equity and inclusion and promote positive and enriching mentor-mentee relationships.
  • Promote broad mentorship networks to ensure graduate students and postdoctoral scholars seek mentors from a diverse network.
  • Establish Graduate Studies as a leader in faculty-graduate student mentorship and serve as a hub for the dissemination of best practices. 

Goal 2-B

Partnering with the graduate programs, develop an expanded portfolio of professional development resources emphasizing a variety of career outcomes to all graduate students and postdoctoral scholars.

Potential Activities, Projects and Initiatives 
  • Foster academic culture change with the goals of equally valuing all career choices for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars.
  • Work with campus and community partners to identify graduate student internships and jobs.
  • Provide students with opportunities for service learning and community-based learning.
  • Ensure the inclusion of diversity components in professional development offerings.
  • Gather and publish data about graduate career outcomes.

Goal 2-C

Engage the graduate alumni community by creating professional development- and community-focused opportunities, services and programs.

Potential Activities, Projects and Initiatives 
  • Increase the number of alumni participating as active volunteers, advocates, and board members. Strengthen ongoing relationships with alumni through improved volunteer engagement.
  • Design a strategy to keep alumni engaged in the years following their graduation
  • Create mentorship networks that link current students and postdocs to alumni in order to create a strengthened sense of community and a clearer understanding of career pipelines. 
  • Develop a pipeline to prepare alumni, donors and prospective donors to make gifts to key areas of graduate education.

    Goal 2-D

    In partnership with programs and campus partners, develop new diversity, equity, inclusion components in professional development and mentoring programs.

    Potential Activities, Projects and Initiatives 
    • Include diversity and bias training in faculty mentoring training programs.
    • Provide resources on culturally aware mentoring/inclusive mentoring.

    Share Your Thoughts

    It's time to turn strategies into action - and we need your help! If you have a comment or suggestion related to our strategic pillars and goals, we ask that you share your thoughts with our strategic planning committees. Your feedback will make the implementation of our strategic plan effective and relevant.

    Submit a Suggestion or Comment