Mentoring Graduate Students
Graduate Faculty Mentor Award
The purpose of the Graduate Faculty Mentor Award is to recognize graduate faculty who have demonstrated excellence in supporting the success of graduate students through outstanding mentoring. The award will be given to one graduate faculty member each year.
Nomination & Selection Process:
- Nominations will be received via the Nomination Form in Kuali Build
- Nominations will open in November and close March 15th
- Nominations are allowed only by graduate faculty peers; self-nominations are not permitted
- An awardee will be selected by the Graduate Student Awards Committee using the award evaluation rubric in April and the awardee will receive notification prior to the end of the spring semester
- The awardee will be recognized at the Graduate School Awards Reception in the following fall semester at which time they will also receive a $500 honorarium
- Nominees must be current graduate faculty with permanent graduate faculty status (tenure or tenure-track only)
- Nominees must have a minimum of three years of service in their permanent graduate faculty role
- Previous awardees are not eligible to receive a subsequent award for three years following the previous award (ex: if awarded in 2025, not eligible again until 2029)
Faculty Professional Development Resource
The Graduate School has developed an interactive on-demand professional development tool for faculty to enhance the mentoring of graduate students. The online modules can be completed in any sequence and the included resources can be referenced at any time. The modules include information, resources, and case studies on the topics of connecting students with campus resources, supporting mentees, navigating mentoring challenges and culturally aware mentoring.
Graduate Student Mentoring Agreement
The Graduate School created the Student Mentoring Agreement, an online tool designed to articulate the goals and plans of the unique mentoring relationships between faculty and graduate students. The Mentoring Agreement is customizable to fit the needs of a variety of mentoring contexts, including the ability to add as many of the below modules as desired:- Mentor & Mentee Profiles (getting to know one another)
- Communication Plan (to identify preferred contact info, meeting frequency & methods)
- Project Planner (to develop goals, milestones, and target dates of a project)
- Mentoring Contract (to clarify expectations of both parties)
- Individual Development Plan (to articulate mentee’s career goals and a collaborative plan for skill development)
- Document Review (to facilitate review of professional documents such as a resume, cover letter, interview videos, portfolio docs)
The Mentoring Agreement can be initiated by either the mentor or the mentee in the Kuali Build system. Once submitted, it will be routed to the other party for review, completion, and approval. Following a final approval by the mentor, both parties will receive a PDF copy of the Agreement via email.
Letter of Recommendation Request Form
The Graduate School created a form that can be used by SIUE faculty or staff to collect information to compose a letter of recommendation requested by students, based on the work of Drs. Sarah Conoyer and Carlee Hawkins. Asking students to complete the Letter of Recommendation Request Form when they request a letter not only streamlines the communication process but also allows for the recommender to reduce unconscious bias by collecting standard information for all letter requests.
Helpful External Resources
- Empowering Mentees & Supporting Mentors: Statement of Principles and Practical Actions, published by the Council of Graduate Schools in 2023
- Tips to Keep Graduate Students Motivated & Productive from the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity
(If you have not yet activated your NCFDD membership to view this article, visit the Center for Faculty Development & Innovation.) - Equitable Research Collaborations Between Faculty & Grad Students from the ADVANCE Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
- Georgetown University's Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship resources on Mentoring.
- Cornell University's Toolkit for Faculty Advancing Inclusive Mentoring
