Mentoring

The relationship you have with your advisor (graduate committee chair) is an important part of graduate education.

For research graduate students your advisor will mentor you through your research questions and design, help you understand your first results, provide constructive feedback and support, offer career advice, and advise you academically. There is room for multiple mentors in your circle, as these resources will point out.

For graduate students doing course-based degrees, your advisor can help you select courses that meet your graduate degree requirements and career goals.

Also as a graduate student, you may have the opportunity to mentor undergraduates or peers.

We hope you'll find useful resources and programming below.

Here is an outline of the key stages of the relationship with your advisor:

Select Your Advisor

Within the first two semesters of your graduate program, you should select your advisor/graduate chair and have your department’s graduate administrator record this in MSU’s Advisor Management system.

By the second semester, you will file your official graduate committee using the MyInfo Graduate Committee Request tool, located in the Student tab of MyInfo. More information about how to use the Committee tool is available on our Forms webpage (there is a help doc with screenshots there). 

Attend “Getting Your Mentoring Relationship Off to a Good Start” Workshop

Each new graduate chair and student pairing are required to attend the “Getting Your Mentoring Relationship Off to a Good Start” workshop. This workshop is a collaboration between The Center for Faculty Excellence, Counseling and Psychological Services, and The Graduate School. Workshops are held once every fall and spring term and participants are invited via email.

Mentoring Agreement

You and your advisor can co-develop a mentoring agreement which helps align expectations between advisor and student. University of Michigan has a mentoring form that is co-developed between the student and advisor.

An agreement assists a student and their advisor to discuss professional goals, expectations around progress, level and type of supervision, frequency of meetings, and expectations of the relationship. This agreement can be periodically reviewed and updated. Taking the time to discuss these is an investment in trust.  Agreements also provide a reference point during later, sometimes difficult, conversations between the student and advisor. Referring to the agreement can be empowering for the graduate student and a proactive step for the advisor to keep progress on track.

Mentoring Maps

University of Michigan mentor worksheet (pdf download).

National Center for Faculty Development Diversity (NCFDD) Mentor Map, perhaps more geared towards new faculty.

IDPs

MyIDP (sciences) and ImaginePhD (humanities and social sciences) are two tools to help you map out your goals so that you can communicate and align these goals with your mentor. 

Mentorship Programs at MSU

Indigenous mentoring program is run each year by the CFE. Participants will gain insights into effectively mentoring American Indian students, especially in STEM fields, learn about Indigenous research methodologies and explore how they might connect with your own research, explore ways to move from cultural competence toward cultural humility, and maintain equity in teaching by facilitating and supporting the success and advancement of students from a diverse array of backgrounds.

Building MSU Families is a program specifically for Indigenous students. Students are paired with a faculty or staff member on campus with the goal of improving the wellbeing of Indigenous students and to build a sense of family and community during and after the students’ journeys at MSU. Contact Lisa Perry to become a mentor or mentee. 

First-Year Communities is a graduate peer mentoring program run through departments and supported by The Graduate School. Second year or later graduate students provide support and mentor first-year students in the program. Each department runs differently; see your department to inquire about a first-year community in your program.

Identity-based mentoring is offered through Diversity & Inclusion Student Commons (DISC). The goal of this mentoring program is to create supportive relationships that foster students’ sense of belonging and connectedness within the MSU community.

Changing your advisor. If you need to change your advisor, please consider the steps outlined here: