Mentoring graduate students is one of the most rewarding parts of our job, but it can also be one of the most challenging. New faculty may have had very limited opportunities to serve as a mentor thus far in their careers. Experienced faculty, who have mentored numerous students in the past, may encounter challenges giving a particular student what they need or relating to entire cohorts as they get further and further from their own student experience. One of the best way to address these challenges is simply to chat with other faculty members about their experiences. However, we also recognize that it can be difficult to find time in busy schedules to have dedicated conversations about mentoring.

In order to help overcome this issue, we host the Let’s Talk about Mentoring roundtable series where we invite faculty from across campus to talk very briefly about the mentoring challenges they are currently working through and any approaches they have developed to deal with those challenges. The primary purpose of the sessions, however, is to encourage discussion among panelists and audience members about what we are all seeing and what we thinks works and doesn’t work when it comes to creating an environment that ensures the highest level of success possible for our graduate students.

The next seminar is scheduled for Friday Dec. 2 from 1-2pm. It will be held via Zoom, check back here for more information about how to register.