The Mentoring Project FAQs
Below are some some frequently asked questions about The Mentoring Project.What is the project purpose and objectives?
The purpose of the project is to facilitate the collaborative design of intradepartmental standards for mentoring ecosystems rooted in equity and culturally relevant frameworks, resulting in the co-creation of Mentorship Compacts.
The project, managed by the Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs (GEPA), aims to empower participating departments/programs to alter their mentoring ecosystems in new equity-minded ways by (1) discussing mentorship first within and then across constituent groups, (2) co-creating and sharing mentoring standards, and (3) committing to enacting and revising these standards regularly, so that all students and postdoctoral scholars receive equitable mentorship grounded in culturally relevant practice.
What are the project goals?
The short-term goal is to carry out this pilot and achieve the objectives described above for the subset of departments/programs. The medium-term goal is to study this process, learn how these conversations unfold, and use that information to develop even better ways of facilitating such work at scale. The long-term goal is for every department/program at UC San Diego to have these conversations, with the goal of publicly committing to mentoring norms. Ideally, departments/programs would repeat these conversations every few years as a way of revisiting their norms. Finally, the longest-term goal, after scaling up to reach every department/program at UC San Diego, is to disseminate our work in ways that inspire the rest of the UC System and beyond to do the same thing.
What is the project progression?
The steps of the project are to:
- Identify a subset of five pilot departments, then assemble a project team within each area consisting of faculty, staff, postdoctoral scholars, and graduate students committed to critically examining their mentoring ecosystem.
- Work with the faculty to have robust conversations about their mentoring norms and expectations of mentees.
- Simultaneously work with graduate students (and postdocs where applicable) in those same departments to have conversations about what it means to be a mentee as well as their expectations of mentors in ways that center the assets students and postdoctoral scholars bring to their departments.
- And then facilitate a coming together of the two groups to converse and discuss their ideas in ways that help each group refine their own thinking.
- Ultimately, we want departments to leverage these cross-conversations in ways lead to the co-creation and enactment of agreed upon approaches, standards, and norms for mentors and mentees as codified by publicly shared equity-minded and culturally aware Mentorship Compacts.
What are the project deliverables?
Project deliverables include:
- Department project goals and work plans
- Department-specific co-created Mentorship Compact
- Department innovation activities to adopt the Mentorship Compact and showcase equity-minded and culturally relevant mentoring practices
- Program evaluation
What are the expected outcomes of the project?
Adoption of publicly shared equity-minded and culturally relevant Mentorship Compacts that will (1) describe the department’s/program’s unique discipline-specific mentoring ecosystem, (2) articulate agreed upon approaches, standards, and norms for mentors and mentees, and (3) outline the plan for ongoing examination and adjustments.
Is there a financial incentive to participate in the project?
Yes, Project Team Members will each receive $1,000/year to engage in the project.
Additional funds will be provided to support departmental project events, such as monthly meetings, quarterly check-ins, and innovation/celebration activities.
Who are the pilot project departments?
We have identified five change-ready departments to engage in this project. These departments are: Bioengineering, Economics, History, Physics, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
What other mentoring initiatives are happening at UCSD?
We have a number of exciting mentoring initiatives on campus.
Non Discrimination Statement: In accordance with applicable Federal and State law and University policy, the University of California does not discriminate, or grant preferences, on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, and/or other protected categories. More information about Proposition 209 can be found here. More information about the University of California Anti-Discrimination Policy can be found here.