Dear UNL Graduate Student:
An important part of the mission of the Office of Graduate Studies is to improve the quality of the graduate student experience. To that end, we spend a considerable amount of time listening to graduate students about their concerns and their suggestions for improving their graduate experience. Over the past several years, a common theme has emerged — graduate students' desire for effective mentoring.
Of course, many graduate students don't receive as much mentoring as they would like for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that most of us face many varied and competing demands. Given these challenges, we believe both students and their mentors share responsibility for improving the quality of such support. There is no substitute for a healthy relationship between mentor and protégé; this is the key to successful mentoring.
This guidebook for graduate students reflects UNL's acknowledgment of the important role mentoring plays within graduate education. Its purpose is to offer you strategies for forming and maintaining successful relationships with your mentors. Because mentoring is a two-way street, we also have developed a companion guidebook for faculty, called How to Mentor 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 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 for the mentoring you need, and to share your ideas with your peers and professors. 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 obtaining a graduate degree.
Your Friends in the Office of Graduate Studies
Further Information
For further information about the guidebook or other issues related to mentoring of graduate students at UNL, contact the Office of Graduate Studies at 402-472-2875.
Acknowledgements
We thank Don Wulff and Suzanne Ortega at the University of Washington for their generous permission to adapt their guidebook for graduate students, How to Obtain the Mentoring You Need.
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.
