Resources for Mentors
One of my favorite parts of my job is getting to work with students. I take the responsibility of mentoring students, many of them in their first research experience, very seriously. I have invested in improving my efficacy as a mentor and sharing resources and practices I find useful with others. Here are some resources I have found useful over the years. They are geared toward a 10-week summer research program, like an REU, but have broader applications.
Some of these resources are adapted from the Entering Mentoring curriculum I was taught as a graduate student at UW-Madison.
Below is a brief overview of each document. The documents are listed in the order in which they are typically used during the summer.
There is a lot here, which might be overwhelming. I recommend starting with the Project Development Worksheet, the Mentor-Mentee Compact, and the Mentee Mid-Summer Reflection.
Pre-Summer
- A worksheet to help flesh out your summer research project
- Focuses on designing "off ramps" to ensure there are multiple stopping points
- Highlights the skills your mentee will need and how they will gain them
- In the past, I have walked through this document with my mentee to design a project with them that best suits their abilities and goals
- An example from the project I designed for the 2021 TAURUS program can be found here
- Formulate a mentoring philosophy and reflect on mentoring generally
- Highlight challenges you perceive as a mentor
First Week of the Program
- An exercise to identify what your mentee is hoping you will be able to provide
Mentee Motivations and Expectations
- An exercise to learn more about your mentee and their goals/expectations
- Great first step before filling in the Mentor-Mentee Compact
- Codifies and clarifies all of the expectations and goals for the research experience
- Includes the TAURUS/REU Code of Conduct
- Includes statement about mandatory reporting required by Title IX
Drafting a Letter of Recommendation
- An exercise for the mentee to more abstractly define their goals for the summer
- Useful to identify the types of skills the mentee wants to develop/exercise
TAURUS-REU Interview Questions
- Every mentor will interview their mentee and write up the answers for a blog post
- These are example questions to ask your mentee
Research Technologies Skills Tracker
- A google sheet where mentees can quickly identify skills they have
- A place to identify the skills gained throughout the summer
Mid-Summer
- Assess how the summer and the project are going
- Identifies gaps in mentorship and how to fill them
End of Summer
Mentee End of Summer Reflection
- Assess how the summer went
- Gain feedback on how to improve