Dear UNL Graduate Faculty Member:
Mentoring of graduate students by faculty is an integral part of the graduate experience. Although it begins with the faculty, it works best when graduate students and faculty share responsibility for ensuring the quality of such support. When it comes to academic success and persistence, there is no substitute for a healthy relationship between you and your protégés.
The Office of Graduate Studies recognizes the important role mentoring plays within graduate education. The following guidebook is designed to promote effective mentoring by describing key elements, roles, and stages of development associated with it along with practical strategies for nurturing rewarding relationships with graduate students. Because mentoring is a two-way street, we also have developed a companion guidebook called Mentoring: A Guidebook for Graduate Students at UNL, similar to this one in many ways, but written for an audience of graduate students. Mentoring is key to success for all of those involved in graduate education, and we hope these guides will be helpful resources for faculty, students, and staff alike.
The themes and recommendations outlined in this guidebook derive from several respected sources. First, we consulted resources and materials from our peer institutions and adapted many aspects of mentoring handbooks developed by the Rackham School of Graduate Studies, University of Michigan, and the University of Washington. Their themes resonated well with our own campus experience. We also drew on findings from national studies and initiatives, such as the Re-envisioning the PhD project and the Woodrow Wilson Foundation's Responsive PhD Initiative. Also, we drew on insights from UNL students, faculty, and staff who have participated in UNL's Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) program.
The Office of Graduate Studies will continue to sponsor opportunities for faculty, students, and staff to promote a learning environment of excellence. We hope you will use this guide as a tool to reflect on and plan your mentoring, and to share your ideas with your colleagues. We invite you to add your voice to those reflected in this guidebook by sharing your thoughts with us by sending e-mail to . Join us as we continue to discuss and address the role of mentoring in graduate education.
We wish you every success as you engage in the challenging and rewarding experience of mentoring graduate students.
Origins
Further Information
Acknowledgements
We also thank the Rackham Graduate School at the University of Michigan, for permission to use portions of their handbook How to Get the Mentoring You Need: A Guide for Graduate Students at a Diverse University, which also served as the original basis for the University of Washington's guidebook.
