Resources for Mentors

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How to Use These Resources

Faculty mentors guide graduate students on their academic and professional growth and support them in finding resources to meet their personal needs and goals. An investment in mentoring enhances graduate student retention and well-being, allowing graduate students to successfully navigate and thrive in graduate programs. Below are tools and resources to assist faculty in their own development as mentors.

Contact Us

If you have questions about particular resources, please contact Elizabeth Sturdy, Director of Mentoring and Academic Success Initiatives.

Overview

Mentoring Guides

UC Davis Graduate Council Mentoring Guidelines: Graduate Council recognizes that the mentoring of graduate students by faculty is an integral part of the graduate experience for both. The responsibilities of the faculty mentor are broad and diverse. They include, but are not limited to serving as a role model, advising a student as to course work requirements, and providing formal instruction in a given discipline as well as helping students identify and achieve their individual short and long-term educational goals.
How to Mentor Graduate Students: A Guide for Faculty: A guide from University of Michigan's Rackham Graduate School that provides an extensive overview of mentoring and general guidelines.
The Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM: An online guide from The National Academies of Sciences Engineering and Medicine.
Nature's Guide for Mentors: This article outlines the qualities of good mentors and tips for creating a successful relationship with your mentee.
Rethinking Mentoring: This article provides an overview of mentoring, mentoring structures, benefits, and how to set up a successful relationship.

Additional Tools

Mentoring Competency Assessment (MCA): The MCA is a validated instrument for mentors to assess their own mentoring. This can help mentors to identify their strengths and weaknesses.

Webinars

Maximizing Mentoring Relationships: Led by Sharon Milgram of the NIH Office of Intramural Training and Education, this workshop provides best practices in mentorship including topics such as setting expectations, stereotype threat, and imposter syndrome
Culturally Aware Mentorship: Offered by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences training community, this webinar discusses the impact of cultural awareness on effective mentorship.
Supporting Graduate Student Mental Health: A webinar from the Council of Graduate Schools on supporting graduate student mental health.
Tips for Effective Conversations with Trainees: Discusses best practices for communication with mentees.

Communication and Relationship Building

The key to a successful mentoring relationship is to establish expectations early, communicate regularly, and address any conflicts swiftly. We have resources and tools in the following areas to help mentors:

Setting Expectations

Tools

Developing Shared Expectations: A tool from Rackham Graduate School, University of Michigan that provides suggested topics to discuss with mentees.
Types of Expectations: A list of potential expectations to discuss with mentees or include in a mentoring compact.
Advice for Structuring the Mentoring Process: This document outlines how to manage expectations differently for each phase of the mentoring relationship.
Student Progress Assessment: The Student Progress Assessment (SPA) allows major professors and/or graduate advisors to evaluate a graduate student's progress and provide future goals and expectations.
Questionnaire for Aligning Expectations in Research Mentoring Relationships: This tool has been designed as a discussion starter for use by research mentors and student mentees.
Mentorship Agreement Template: a short document to outline expectations between the mentor and mentee.
Mentoring Agreement Examples: Faculty mentors may want to consider developing a mentoring compact, which is similar to a syllabus that lays out the expectations and goals for both the mentor and mentee.
299 Syllabus Template: Faculty and students can align expectations for research units and how to earn a Satisfactory grade for the quarter.

Supervising Employees

You’re the Boss: Managing Your Team: This presentation from the Academic Affairs Brown Bag Series provides advice on supervising teaching assistants and graduate student researchers.
Managing Multigenerational Teams: This article from Science includes advice on how to manage teams of diverse ages and how to avoid generational bias.
Ten Simple Rules for Building an Anti-Racist Lab: This article provides tips on creating an anti-racist team.
CLEAR Lab: An example of an anti-racist lab manual.
The Supervisory Role of Life Science Research Faculty: The Missing Link to Diversifying the Academic Workforce?: This article discusses the role of faculty mentors as supervisors and best practices for running a lab.
Academic Personnel: Information and links to resources for employing postdoctoral scholars and graduate students as Teaching Assistants, Associate In_, Readers and Tutors; and Graduate Student Researchers. Additional questions can be sent to Tracey Pereida at tgpereida@ucdavis.edu.

Communication & Conflict Management

Communication Hacks for Promoting Learning: This document outlines tips and questions to use for having a difficult conversation or offering support to a mentee.
Mentoring Styles Assessment: A tool that assesses a mentor's mentoring style.
5:15 Tool: This tool helps students prepare content for a meeting with their mentor and it should take roughly 15 minutes to prepare and 5 minutes for the mentor to read prior to the meeting.
Office of the Ombuds: The UC Davis Ombuds Office is a confidential, independent, impartial, and informal problem-solving and conflict management resource for all members of the UC Davis and UC Davis Health campus communities.
Conflict Styles Assessment: This assessment helps mentors identify how they respond to conflict and how to be more aware of the implications of each style.
Mind Matters: Managing Conflict in the Lab: This article provide strategies to minimize conflicts in a lab environment, but the strategies are helpful for other working environments as well.
Recognizing and Responding to Bullying and Abrasive Behaviors: This presentation offered through the Academic Affairs Brown Bag Series provides an overview on bullying and how to respond.
Policies and Guidance Related to Bullying and Faculty Behavior: This document compiles the current policies and UC guidance on bullying.

Academic Success and Professional Development

Mentors provide invaluable guidance and feedback on a student’s writing, research, professional development, and teaching. We have resources and tools in the following areas to help mentors.

Graduate Student Research

Responsible Conduct of Research Program: The Office of Research offers a Responsible Conduct of Research program that covers information, training, and tools to address the increasingly complex issues.
Fieldwork Safety Program: UC Davis resources for fieldwork safety.
Safe Fieldwork Strategies: An article from Nature on how mentors can support at-risk individuals conducting fieldwork.

Graduate Student Writing

Working with Graduate Student Writers Faculty Guide: Created by Purdue University, this resource guides faculty on how to better support graduate students with their writing.
Mentoring Research Writers: A guide from University of Wisconsin-Madison with strategies on how to mentor trainees with their writing, including tips on the drafting and revision phases of writing.
Guidelines for Facilitating Publication of Graduate Student Work: UC Davis guidelines regarding authorship and publication.
Conventions of Scientific Authorship: An article about author attribution and what to consider.
Preventing Plagiarism : Strategies for preventing and detecting plagiarism in student work.

Career and Professional Development

The Mentor Mirror: Created by Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Renetta Tull, the mentor mirror outlines a reverse IDP for mentors to plan how they will promote professional development in their mentees.
Individual Development Plan: Fill this out with your mentee to assist them in formulating goals and timelines that best meet their professional and career development needs.
CV of Failures: This articles shares how one Princeton professor created a document of his so-called failures to normalize rejection and failure for his students.
Creating Developmental Networks: An exercise based on the Developmental Network Model by Professor Kathy Kram, this helps you map out your own mentor network.

Teaching

Center for Educational Effectiveness: The CEE offers faculty workshops on promoting and supporting effective learning for all students. The CEE offers TA training and resources for graduate student teaching.

Awareness and Support

The resources below can help mentors provide support to their mentees in an individualized manner.

Historically Excluded & First-Generation Students and Scholars

Faculty Resource Guide: A guide for faculty starting to learn about equity, inclusion, justice, and anti-racism.
Mentoring BIPOC in a University Setting: A guide from UC Davis graduate student Veronica Padilla Vriesman on mentoring Black graduate students and graduate students of color.
Safe Fieldwork Strategies: An article from Nature on how mentors can support at-risk individuals conducting fieldwork.
Graduate Students of Color Mentoring Program: Organized by the Cross-Cultural Center, this 2-quarter long program pairs a faculty mentor with a graduate student. Through faculty mentorship and other programming, the GSoC Mentoring Program holistically supports its graduate student participants as they navigate the rigors of graduate school. Contact the Cross Cultural Center for more information.
Diversity Initiatives, Literature, and Resources: Learn more about the initiatives and resources, as well as scholarship on mentoring and diversity, put together by Graduate Studies Diversity Officers.
Anti-Racism Resources: Includes lists and resources for understanding anti-racism.
Social Justice and Anti-Racism Resources for Graduate Education: a list compiled in 2021 to help support social justice in graduate education.
First-Gen Grads: The First-Generation Graduate Student Initiative is designed to address the needs of first-generation graduate students with a multi-pronged approach involving 1) peer mentorship, 2) professional development, and 3) a series of networking events. Contact Josephine Moreno for more information.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Mental Health and Wellness

Responses for Distressed and Distressing Students: A handout that helps faculty know when and where to escalate issues when interacting with students in distress or cause distress to others.
Gatekeeping Training Study: Two separate mental health trainings are being offered on campus as part of a study sponsored by the Office of Student Affairs. These trainings are designed to help equip TAs, staff, and faculty with skills and the knowledge they need to comfortably and confidently speak to students about mental health concerns and then refer them to appropriate mental health resources.
Case Management (Student Support): UC Davis non-clinical Case Managers, based in the Office of Student Support and Judicial Affairs (OSSJA), are here to provide support and assistance to students in need. Anyone can contact a case manager when they are concerned about a student. The student may be in distress due to emotional issues, health, family or personal relationships, grades, academic standing, or other problems.
Health and Well-Being Resources for Graduate Students and Their Mentors: This document includes a comprehensive list of mental health and wellness resources on campus.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Council of Graduate Schools: Mental Health and Well-Being Report: A recent report from the Council of Graduate Schools on the trends during the pandemic and evidence-informed recommendations.
"Unique Challenges and Opportunities for Supporting Mental Health and Promoting the Well-being of International Graduate Students" by Jenny J. Lee (University of Arizona)
"Promoting Graduate Student Wellbeing: Cultural, Organizational, and Environmental Factors in the Academy" by Julie R. Posselt (University of Southern California)
"Balancing Access and Safety for Graduate Students with Mental Health Issues" by Hannah S. Ross (Middlebury College)

Graduate Student Mentors Mentoring Undergraduate Students

The resource is a free digital toolbox for graduate students and postdocs who are mentoring undergraduate students. Includes email templates, record-keeping templates, worksheets, step-by-step guides, overviews, helpful tips, and more!

We are excited to share with you a new, free digital toolbox for graduate students and postdocs who are mentoring undergraduate students! We have created MINT- the Mentorship Internet Toolbox.

This toolbox may be useful for a variety of the mentoring initiatives you oversee, particularly programs where graduate students are mentoring undergraduate students! These resources are also helpful for graduate students interested in seeking mentorship opportunities and wanting to learn more about being a good mentor, regardless of previous or current experience.

MINT includes email templates, record-keeping templates, worksheets, step-by-step guides, overviews, helpful tips, and more!

MINT covers topics such as:

Aligning expectations when mentoring undergraduates
How to develop your mentorship style
Basics of mentorship including handling conflict and setting boundaries
And how to incorporate mentorship into application materials such as teaching statements

MINT currently exists in several formats, all of which are intended to be downloadable and easy to customize for your use.

To access the complete Google Drive version of this toolbox: CLICK HERE

In this Google Drive folder, you will find both PDF and Google Doc versions of each resource, along with a complete PDF of the entire resource.

To go directly to the complete MINT pdf: CLICK HERE