Student Mentoring Resources
Student Resources for Mentoring
A critical aspect of finding the success you envision in your graduate training is taking the primary responsibility for successful completion of the degree but also advocating for your professional development needs.
This tool is meant to be used at multiple points in your graduate training, or beyond, as professional interests and goals change. As you accept new challenges in your professional development and training, you may find that identifying a mentor can accelerate your journey professionally and personally.
Use this tool as you embark on a new research project, internship, practicum, collaborative project, or other experience.
Questions to Consider:
What two or three things do I want to learn from this experience?
What are one or two specific professional or personal goals that I can learn from this experience?
What skills do I need to develop to be successful?
How does this experience support my career goals or interests?
What UCCS resources, including mentorship, are available to support me?
PDF version for download HERE.
The Graduate School at the University of Missouri and the University of Georgia Athens were important resources in developing this tool.
Reaching out a potential mentor can be anxiety-inducing. Use this tool to help you craft professional emails, tips for following up, and for guiding initial conversation with a mentor, including professional icebreaker questions.
Tips for Communicating with a Mentor.pdf
We acknowledge the University of Georgia Mentor Program, Mentee Communication Best Practices & Tips, for this invaluable information.
A critical aspect of developing a strong working relationship with your mentor is to establish expectations regarding communication mode(s) and frequency. Use the questions, below, to stimulate a conversation with your mentor. Not all questions may be relevant to you, your mentor, your project, or your graduate program, so adapt this tool as you see fit.
Questions to consider when discussing a communication plan with your mentor:
- In your experience in working with graduate students, what communication patterns or modes have you found work well for you and your students, and what isn’t as effective? Do you have a preference (email, phone, face-to-face, by text, Zoom or MS Teams)?
- How often do you prefer to meet with the students that you are mentoring? How are meetings initiated and who leads the agenda? Is it possible to have a standing meeting with a set date and duration of time?
- What are your expectations of graduate students you are mentoring? Are these expectations written somewhere?
- What should I do if I need help on my project and I’m not making the progress that I should be making? How do I demonstrate my progress to you?
- Will I be expected to present at lab group meetings, a class, or seminar series? Do you have expectations of what this presentation should include?
- Establish a communication plan with your mentor/advisor in which you mutually agree upon mode,
frequency, and time.
We acknowledge Dr. Crystal Vander Zanden, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, for initiating this helpful tool and inspiring the questions included here
Use this tool to consider the best program or advisor for your professional and personal needs.
Considerations When Choosing a Grad Program or Thesis Advisor.pdf
Remember that there can be many mentors who contribute to your development. As you change and grow, your needs from mentors will also change.
This tool is meant to be used to identify the network of mentors who support your professional growth. It is also meant to help you identify who should be included in your mentor map, a network of individuals who support your development as it relates to your identified goals. You might find this tool to be useful by itself or in conjunction with the Individual Development Plan (IDP), which is a very in-depth tool for defining S.M.A.R.T goals: specific, measurable outcomes, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. This tool, however, helps you to identify who the persons or resources are who can assist you in achieving your personal and professional goals
Individual Development Plans, also known as IDPs, help you outline your academic, professional, and personal goals. They are designed to be flexible while encouraging pro-active S.M.A.R.T goal setting. This link will take you to the University of Missouri Graduate School resource page for their IDPs and other external links and downloadable templates.
Individual Development Plan | University of Missouri Graduate School
We are grateful to the University of Missouri Graduate School for creating this thorough guide on IDP development.
Mentoring templates to establish project goals:
The UCCS Center for Student Research has provided three templates to use when establishing a research project with a faculty mentor. Use these tools to guide your nascent collaboration: Mentoring Plan Options
Meeting agenda templates:
Make the most of each meeting session with your mentor. This template can help keep your meeting on track while documenting progress or pitfalls: Mentor/Mentee Meetings – Agenda Templates