Mentoring Guidelines
Mentoring is defined as a close relationship between a graduate student and a faculty member
who provides guidance, support and research advice in an individualized manner.
Graduate Council recognizes that the mentoring of graduate students by faculty is an integral part
of the graduate experience for both. The responsibilities of the faculty mentor are broad and
diverse. They include, but are not limited to serving as a role model, advising a student as to
course work requirements, and providing formal instruction in a given discipline as well as
helping students identify and achieve their individual short and long-term educational goals..
While the major professor usually acts as a student’s primary mentor, many of the mentoring
“functions” described below, may also be performed by other program/group faculty and staff
over the course of a student’s graduate experience. A corollary to this recognition is that much of
the interaction of faculty with all students includes important mentoring components. Similarly,
graduate students have important responsibilities to ensure they are open to and accepting of
faculty mentoring and articulate their needs effectively. Thus, it is together that faculty and
students identify and discuss their goals and expectations for each other, and outline approaches
to reach those goals and satisfy those expectations.
Basic mentoring practices include guiding students through program expectations, protocols of
academic conduct, degree requirements, research and teaching, capstone work (such as thesis or
dissertation research), and professional development.
1. Mentors and/or the advising system should provide, and students should acquire, a clear
map of program requirements from the beginning, making clear the coursework
requirements, and expected timelines for completion of all required examinations and
capstone requirements.
Mentors are responsible for
1. Respecting their student, including the student’s identity including race, ethnicity, gender
and gender expression, age, visible and non-visible disability, nationality, sexual
orientation, citizenship status, veteran status, religious/non-religious, spiritual, or political
beliefs, socio-economic class, status within or outside the university, or any of the other
differences among people.
2. Assisting students in the identification of support networks (people who can help the
student for different aspects of their tenure at UCD).
3. Being a student’s advocate and assisting the student in a timely manner in finding sources
to support dissertation research (teaching assistantships, research assistantships,
fellowships, research needs and required resources, including desk and/or laboratory
space).
4. Addressing problems or challenges that could affect completion of the degree as soon as
they become aware of them.
5. Tailoring, modifying or adjusting the faculty member’s mentoring style to the particular
needs of each graduate student, to a reasonable extent.
6. Encouraging an open exchange of ideas, including by empowering students to
independently follow research ideas of their own whenever feasible.
7. Checking regularly on progress. Graduate Council recognizes each graduate
program/group, mentor and mentee should agree upon a reasonable frequency of
meetings and communications, which may vary widely by discipline, but should not
usually occur less than at least once per quarter.
8. Encouraging and giving feedback on written work, oral presentations and experimental
work in a timely manner within a mutually agreed upon time frame, and consistent with
Graduate Council policies
9. Providing and discussing clear criteria for authorship of collaborative research, consistent
with Graduate Council policies on co-authorship.
10. Encouraging participation in professional meetings of regional groups as well as of
learned societies and facilitating interactions and networking with other scholars, on
campus and within the wider professional community.
11. Helping the student in identifying appropriate resources for career guidance, providing
help with preparations of CV and job interviews, as well as writing letters of
recommendation in a timely manner.
12. Empowering and encouraging the student in seeking their own career paths and
supporting the student independent of the chosen career paths they identify.
13. Participating regularly in mentorship training.
As partners in the mentoring relationship, graduate students have responsibilities. These
responsibilities include:
1. Respecting their mentor, including their mentor’s identity including race, ethnicity, gender
and gender expression, age, visible and non-visible disability, nationality, sexual
orientation, citizenship status, veteran status, religious/non-religious, spiritual, or political
beliefs, socio-economic class, status within or outside the university, or any of the other
differences among people
2. Seeking assistance from multiple individuals/organizations to fulfill the mentoring roles
described above, because one faculty member may not be able to satisfy all of a student’s
mentoring needs.
3. Understanding and clearly articulating to their mentors their own mentoring needs and
how they change through their graduate tenure.
4. Respecting their mentor’s other responsibilities and time commitments.
5. Communicating regularly with their mentors, especially their major professor, including
updates on progress, challenges, needs, goals and expected completion timelines.
6. Completing tasks in a timely fashion and following mutually agreed upon timelines and
informing mentors about expected absences and delays before they occur.
7. Participating in departmental and graduate program/group community including attending
activities, lectures, and events.
8. Acting in a manner that will encourage professors to see them as colleagues. Seeking
constructive criticism and feedback on academic work.
9. Seeking information, exploring career options and developing clear career goals.
10. Participating regularly in mentee-ship training.
While we have tried to provide general examples of what mentoring means, we recognize that
each discipline has its own special set of mentoring needs and challenges. Therefore, Graduate
Programs/Groups may set specific guidelines to further define the individual roles of Graduate
Advisors, major professors, faculty supervisors, and staff program/group advisors (see Appendix
A for an example). Graduate programs/group mentoring guidelines and activities will be
reviewed during the program review process.
Additional Resources and Guidelines
(Links active as of June 15th , 2016.)
I. Mentoring Matters (UC Davis)
II. How to Mentor Students: A Guide for Faculty (University of Michigan)
III. Research Mentoring: Cultivating Effective Relationships (University of Wisconsin)
Revised by Graduate Council
June 27, 2016
Appendix A: Example Breakdown of Roles and Responsibilities
a. Academic advisors are expected to
i. Communicate degree requirements to advisees.
ii. Respond promptly to communications from advisees.
iii. Set clear expectations for the timeline of degree progress.
iv. Review mentees degree progress on an annual basis.
v. Meet with student’s academic advisory committee as required by the graduate
program.
b. Major professors are expected to
i. Set clear and reasonable expectations for their students.
ii. Respond promptly to communications from students.
iii. Review expectations and progress on a regular basis.
iv. Provide timely feedback on student’s preparation of publications, conference
presentations, exhibitions, performances, or comparable communication with the
academic community.
v. Establish in advance a mutual understanding on criteria for co-authorship of
collaborative work consistent with Graduate Council policy, if applicable.
vi. Hold meetings of student’s dissertation committees as required by the graduate
program.
vii. Provide clear guidelines for starting and finishing dissertation or thesis work
viii. Meet individually with each of their students to review degree progress, goals and
other topics on a quarterly basis.
c. Faculty supervisors of graduate students are expected to
i. Set clear and reasonable expectations for their supervisees.
ii. Respond promptly to communications from supervisees.
iii. Insure justifiable resource allocation among supervisees.
iv. Establish in advance a mutual understanding on criteria for co-authorship of
collaborative work consistent with Graduate Council policy.
v. Compensate supervisee financially for work for the supervisor, but unrelated to their
degree progress.
vi. Review supervisee’s performance on an annual basis.
vii. Comply with applicable policies and laws regarding employer-employee relationships
including non-discrimination and sexual harassment laws.