Guide to Mentoring PhD Students (ALPHA Version)
THIS IS AN INITIAL DRAFT. FACULTY MEMBERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO SUBMIT
ADDITIONAL IDEAS, STRATEGIES, AND OTHER SUGGESTIONS TO JOE.
DEVELOPMENT OF A MENTORING GUIDE IS ON THE FACULTY COUNCIL
AGENDA FOR 2009-2010.
The Curry PhD Training Committee was established in the Fall of 2007 with a charge to
develop a more research-intensive PhD program structure. The Committee
recommended several program features that were subsequently endorsed by the
Faculty Council and the Dean in the Spring of 2008, for implementation beginning in Fall
2009. In the new structure, each entering student is assigned a mentor at the time of
acceptance. The mentor will communicate program area expectations, guide the
student through the program, provide a research apprenticeship beginning in the first
semester of graduate work, help the student prepare and submit a pre-dissertation
research manuscript, provide feedback along the way, and finally, oversee the student’s
dissertation work. The research apprenticeship and pre-dissertation manuscript, as
described below, are new as stated degree requirements, but are not new to Curry.
Some Program Areas have been incorporating one or both of these features in their
PhD programs for years.
The Research Apprenticeship
Ph.D. students will participate in a research apprenticeship with their faculty advisors.
This apprenticeship will occupy approximately 10 hours of each student's week during
the first and second years of study and may increase during the third and fourth years.
During this apprenticeship, the student will assist with the advisor’s research and
scholarship, which may include data collection, data analysis, library research,
presentations, writing for publication, and other related activities.
Pre-dissertation Manuscript
Under the guidance of their program area, students will complete a pre-dissertation
research project that results in a manuscript submitted for publication in a peerreviewed journal or an alternative scholarly publication consistent with the program
area's discipline. The manuscript must be submitted before the student undertakes
dissertation work. There is no requirement that the paper be accepted for publication,
but students are encouraged to revise manuscripts if resubmission is likely to result in
publication. Advisors are encouraged to work with students to shape these papers
toward eventual publication; co-authored papers are acceptable.
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Being a Mentor
A mentor is more than a program advisor or a dissertation committee chair. According
to the National Council of Graduate Schools and the National Institutes of Health,
mentors are:
1. Advisors, who have career experience and are willing to share their knowledge,
2. Supporters, who provide emotional and moral encouragement,
3. Tutors, who give specific feedback on one’s performance,
4. Supervisors, who monitor their students’ academic and professional progress,
5. Trainers, who teach students about professional responsibility,
6. Sponsors, who are sources of information about opportunities and assist students in
obtaining them, and
7. Role models, who exhibit the qualities and ethical values that academics should
posses.
You will play several roles as a mentor, and these roles will change over the course of a
student’s doctoral program. At first your role will be to introduce your new mentee to
your Program Area, Department, and Curry. You will develop supportive professional
relationship with your student that will guide and nurture her/him through the program
and help her/him develop the knowledge and skills necessary for success in your field
or discipline. Along the way you will help socialize your mentee into your field or
profession. Good mentoring of graduate students will help transform them from
graduate students to colleagues. Mentoring is a crucial feature of our doctoral
programs, and one that will take time, effort, and patience on the part of each mentor.
The mentor will not be totally alone in guiding a student through the program. First, if a
mentor and student deem appropriate, a student may have two mentors, with
complementary areas of expertise. Second, the Program Area and Curry School are
responsible for providing students with a strong array of courses and other educational
experiences, in an environment that will facilitate successful program completion and
entrance into the field. Also, each student should also feel free to seek advice from
other Program Area and Curry faculty.
Strategies for Mentoring
Many Curry faculty members have developed effective approaches and strategies for
mentoring doctoral students through Curry programs and into professional positions.
Mentors are encouraged to share their strategies and experiences with each other.
Here are some mentoring strategies and suggestions to consider. Many of these ideas
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are common sense and are being used by faculty already; they are included here for
comprehensiveness.
1. Get to Know Your Student and Share Relevant Information
It is helpful for mentors to learn about, in some detail, the student’s prior educational
background and work experiences, areas of expertise and interest, and academic and
personal goals. Similarly, mentors should share with students their scholarly interests,
current and pending projects, upcoming conferences, and grant and manuscript ideas.
This sharing will make it easier for mentors and mentees to plan how research
apprenticeships can best be developed for the benefit of both student and mentor.
Mentors should also share their wisdom relevant to being a successful graduate
student; navigating through the program and Curry, and living in Charlottesville. It is
also helpful to introduce new students to more senior students, so they can hear other
ideas, suggestions, tips, and perspectives.

Meet with your mentees before new student orientation if possible; otherwise
meet with them individually as soon as possible after orientation.

Discuss your student’s relevant background and experiences, reasons for
pursuing a PhD, and future goals.

Discuss your Program Area’s PhD program, the interests of the program faculty,
and begin mapping a plan of action.

Have a program area meeting or social function to welcome new students and
have them mingle with other students and faculty.
2. Communicate Academic and Assistantship Responsibilities and Expectations
Mentors should explain to the student at the outset what is expected of him or her. This
includes reviewing with the student the general Curry PhD requirements and the
program-specific coursework, competency, qualifying examination, field, and
dissertation requirements. Mentors should make sure that the student has read and
understood all Program Area guidelines and manuals (paper and web), and the Record
of Progress. The mentor and student should use the program guidelines and Record of
Progress to develop a plan for timely program completion. It is important for students to
know from the very beginning of their program how and when they are to meet all
degree requirements, policies, and procedures.
Mentors should similarly communicate to the mentee all assistantship and apprentice
responsibilities and expectations. Students need to understand not only their job
responsibilities, time commitments, expected quality of work, and deliverables; but also
the level of support available and independence expected.

Create an initial plan and timeline for meeting all degree requirements, based on
your specific program requirements and those generic requirements outlined in
the Record of Progress.
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
Establish an apprenticeship work plan, including initial responsibilities, work
hours and times to meet, with clearly identified deliverables and timelines

When developing a research apprenticeship, try to build in opportunities for some
independent work or creative activities.
3. Be Available and Supportive
Good mentoring takes a significant amount of one-to-one time, especially when the
student is working as an apprentice, planning to teach a Curry course, or working on a
manuscript or dissertation. Mentors must be available to consult with students in person
and electronically. The Department and Program Area must make sure that each
mentor has sufficient time to effectively mentor each assigned student.
Mentors should engage in regular conversation with their students. This will allow the
mentor to assess each mentees’ academic progress, better understand their strengths
and difficulties, and monitor their work performance. Regular conversations should also
let the students know that their mentor is concerned about their academic and personal
development and is willing to take the time to talk and provide guidance. Graduate study
can be stressful, so be available for your mentees, listen patiently to their achievements
and concerns, and provide encouragement and intellectual and emotional support.
Share your own experiences as a graduate student and faculty member, but also help
the student develop confidence and independent work strategies.

Create some informal opportunities for interaction.

Establish a meeting schedule

Provide a collegial environment for your graduate students; treat your students
with respect, and as future colleagues.

Take into consideration different cultural backgrounds and work experiences, and
value differences in goals and areas of expertise.

Be aware of any signs of stress.

Direct students to appropriate resources for guidance should the need arise

Provide support in times of discouragement as well as success.
4. Introduce the Student to Your Field or Discipline
As a mentor you are not only guiding the student through the doctoral program but also
preparing them for subsequent roles as researchers, teachers, clinicians, and
supervisors. You should introduce them to the field not only through coursework but
also by sharing relevant information, such as your field’s main organizations and
networks, journals, major players, seminal pieces of work, reports, conferences, as well
its major questions and issues, paradigms, and methods of scholarship. Some overview
or history of the field or discipline would be helpful as well. This background knowledge
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will help the student understand how different components of the doctoral program will
contribute to their preparation to enter the field.

Inform students about the major journals and other creative outlets in your field.

Encourage students to join appropriate organizations and subscribe to important
journals

Discuss the major historical and contemporary issues and debates in your field

Describe the major paradigms and approaches used by scholars in your
discipline

Share conference programs with students.

Make sure graduate students are aware of any major position papers and reform
documents, as well as “classics.”

Introduce students to colleagues at conferences.

Fill students in on the major people and “characters” in your field.
5. Be a Positive Role Model
The personal and professional behaviors of faculty members should be the standard
that the student will emulate. Students' perceptions of and attitudes towards your field
will be influenced by their experiences in graduate school, especially by discussions
with program faculty, and by the language and activities of their mentors. Students
should see in their mentors’ deep interest in their discipline; goals for developing and
disseminating new knowledge, analyses, and methods; and respectful and ethical
behaviors; pride in their work; and the ability to deal with ambiguity, change, success,
and disappointment. The mentor should be viewed as the kind of person the student
believes she or he should become.

Share your successful scholarly strategies and behaviors.

Share strategies to help students balance the academic, social and personal,
and aspects of their lives.

Exhibit a healthy work ethic.

Show students how to interact respectfully with students and colleagues.

Let students see all aspects of academic life (teaching, writing, research,
consulting, grant writing and administering) and learn how faculty members deal
successfully with them.

Students should also be exposed to how you deal with some of the less exciting
aspects of academic life (meetings, committee work,…).
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6. Become a Professional Development Coordinator.
The goal of doctoral study is to prepare students to enter their chosen profession well
prepared. To do well as a researcher, a student must develop in a variety of ways. They
must be able to conceptualize, conduct, and interpret research, and they must be able
to disseminate their ideas and findings.
Conceptualize and design research and other scholarly activities. Students are required
to take a sequence of research seminars and methodology courses, but these
experiences alone do not make the student into a researcher or scholar. The courses
will engage students in reading research reports and other types of scholarly articles,
but students need to be able to identify important questions, situate them in scholarly
literature, and determine and apply appropriate methods of inquiry. The research
apprenticeships provided by the mentors should be designed to help students develop
these competencies.
Writing. Most positions for which doctoral students are preparing require the ability to
write professional correspondence and scholarly manuscripts. Many students come to
graduate school with little experience in these types of writing. Mentors can help
students develop by giving them detailed and constructive comments on course papers,
and providing them with a variety of writing experiences. Such experiences might
include writing or co-writing class activities and materials, columns and manuscripts,
reviews, and text for poster sessions. Students should also be asked to analyze and
critique published pieces in your discipline (including those of the mentor). These
experiences will prepare students for both their pre-dissertation manuscript and
dissertation.
Public Speaking. Similarly, doctoral graduates need to develop the ability to present
scholarly ideas and research results. Mentors should provide opportunities for the
student to present in a variety of situations, such as class sessions, academic meetings,
professional development workshops, formal and informal seminars, and professional
conferences. It would be useful to have students practice presenting to fellow students
and program area and other Curry faculty. These experiences are valuable preparation
for teaching, defenses, job interviews, and future presentations.
Team-work. Much academic work is done in teams, often with members coming from
different disciplines, so it is important for students to have experiences working on
projects with colleagues. Some of the above mentioned ideas for developing writing and
speaking competencies can be done with several students working together with a
mentor, or even in conjunction with another mentor with students. Some research
apprenticeships might include collaborative projects involving more than one mentor
and his/her students,
Ethics. Students need to understand academic standards concerning authorship,
referencing and acknowledging the work of others when writing manuscripts and giving
talks, acknowledgement of financial support for research, and maintaining
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confidentiality. They must understand the University Honor Code, and the rules and
regulations of the IRB. Mentors should model and demonstrate such ethical behavior,
and point out instances when it may not be obvious to students.

Invite mentees to work on a paper with you, even if you only assign them a minor
role at first (getting references, proof reading,…).

Ask student to help gather and/or review literature.

Ask students to help enter data into a program such as SPSS or NVivo, and use
the program to analyze data.

If possible, give your students real data for use in their research methodology
courses.

Have students read, analyze or summarize field notes.

Share authorship on papers where students have made contributions.

Involve students in activities such as editing papers, writing conference proposals
and grants, reviewing manuscripts (when appropriate).

Ask students to read your papers and suggest edits or substantive revisions
before submission.

Co-present with the students you are mentoring. This could involve them putting
together a poster or PowerPoint presentation, even if they will not be attending
the conference.

It would also be useful for graduate students to contribute to the writing of
conference and grant proposals.
7. Provide Teaching and Supervision Opportunities
The revised PhD emphasizes research and scholarly activity, but teaching will still be a
primary responsibility in most of the positions our students will take after graduation.
Many graduates will also be asked to play supervisory roles as well. We want our Curry
graduates to do well in these roles, and hence, we should prepare them for these
aspects of being an academic professional. Students should be given opportunities to
teach or co-teach courses; participate in the development of course syllabi, materials
and assessment procedures; and analyze their teaching. They should also have
opportunities to supervise students who are in internships, clinical practice, and student
teaching, And, it would be valuable for graduate students to contribute in professional
development sessions and workshops we offer to teachers and other professionals.

Invite mentees co-teach a course with you. This may start by having them coplan a course syllabus, co-develop course assignments and assessments, or
teach one class session.
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
If possible, have students teach their own courses. This could be done through
Summer Session or SCPS.

Ask students to participate in the planning and conducting of professional
development activities

Involve graduate students in supervisory activities when appropriate.
8. Provide Regular Constructive Feedback
Doctoral students should be given timely, honest and constructive feedback throughout
their program, on all aspects of their performance. Regular feedback should be given on
the quality of a student’s course projects, research apprenticeship responsibilities,
teaching, supervision roles, writing, etc. with suggestions and recommendations for
improvement where necessary. Mentors should meet regularly with their mentees to
discuss their performance. Feedback should be given both formally and informally.
The Curry PhD Record of Progress includes sections for students and mentors to
document the reaching of benchmarks for the program. Each department is developing
assessments and rubrics for student performance and progress and is communicating
these expectations to students. Departments are also planning to review students self
assessments through a doctoral student annual report. The results of these
assessments and evaluations should be provided to students and along with explicit
recommendations for means of overcoming any shortcomings that have been identified.
The objective of evaluation is to provide timely and beneficial feedback. Consequences
of failure to meet expectations should be communicated to students. The focus should
be on improving the quality of performance.

Provide students with assessment of their work through honest, constructive, and
timely feedback.

Have regular meeting times

Have students update their Record of Progress regularly

Keep an ongoing record of the student’s progress and achievement.

Be aware of the accomplishments of your students
9. Act as Career Counselor
Once aware of a student’s background, interests, and goals the mentor discuss with the
student how the program will build on their background and prepare them for their future
work. The mentor should help the student develop ideas about their possible career
paths, by informing them of the different types of positions available in the field (e.g.,
research, teaching, government, private company, development, field-base) and what
graduate program experiences best prepare students for these different options.
Students’ goals may change over the course of their program as they have different
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experiences and learn more about working in the field. Have them look at the Chronicle
periodically to gauge the market.

Identify professional workshops and networking opportunities for students.

Have graduate students create a vita and update it with each new notable
experience or accomplishment.

Share job announcements you receive.

Make sure students are aware of the different types of positions available in your
field.

Help students write a cover letter.

Conduct practice job interviews and job talks before the real thing.

Help your students with their negotiations.
Dealing with Problems
Students should keep in touch with their mentors and inform the mentor if they are
having difficulties with any aspect of their graduate program. The mentor may be able to
address the problem and, if not, can direct the student to resources that are available.
Students should feel free to seek out advice from other faculty members and advanced
doctoral students when they need help with specific problems.
There are a variety of personal and professional reasons why some mentor-mentee
relationships do not work out as planned. If a problem arises, the mentor and mentee
should try to resolve it together, but if it can’t be worked out to everyone’s satisfaction, it
may be appropriate for the student to be reassigned to another mentor. The mentee and
mentor may need to discuss this with the Program Coordinator, or Department Chair.