School of Interdisciplinary and Graduate Studies
“Year of the Mentor”

Last year the School of Interdisciplinary and Graduate Studies hosted a Mentoring Kick-Off in the spring that was dedicated to promoting critical reflection about graduate mentorship practices and developing strategies for building a "culture of mentorship" across the departments. Following up on the enthusiasm of attendees at that event, and building on the ideas generated there, SIGS has denoted 2012-2013 as the Year of the Mentor. Below you will find some of the highlights of the upcoming year.

Mentor Advisory Board

One of the ideas generated at the Mentoring Kick-Off in the spring was to create a board of excellent mentors that could serve in an advisory capacity to both students and faculty across campus who had questions about mentoring at UofL. In response to this request, we have gathered a group of faculty Mentor of the Year Award winners who will serve in this way. You can find a list of these mentors at the MentorCenter http://www.lousivlle.edu/graduate/mentorcenter.

Mentor Center

As part of our effort to foster a “culture of mentorship” at the University of Louisville, the School of Interdisciplinary and Graduate Studies has established the MentorCenter as an online hub for mentoring information at the university. The MentorCenter is a web resource for UofL students and faculty interested in establishing, managing and enhancing mentoring relationships that includes answers to common mentoring questions and useful handbooks. The MentorCenter also features MentorConnect, a place for students and faculty to ask specific questions to a Mentor Advisory Board composed of experienced mentors from across the disciplines. You can find the MentorCenter at http://www.louisville.edu/graduate/mentorcenter.

DGS Reading Group: The Formation of Scholars

In recognition of the oft-cited fact that improvements in graduate student programming and mentoring must be rooted in the departments, not imposed “from above,” we will reach out to Directors of Graduate Studies to begin the conversations about mentoring that they can bring back to their departments. All sessions will be in Houchens 105.

Learning Community of Faculty and Graduate Students

Current graduate students and faculty are perhaps the most important stakeholders, and many studies about mentorship recognize the value of considering their lived experiences and putting graduate students and faculty in conversation about mentoring perceptions, expectations and aspirations. This series of conversations will center around developing a shared notion of mentorship and intellectual community that is responsive to the changing needs of graduate students and universities. Please RSVP at http://louisville.edu/graduate/mentorcenter.

Friday, September 21, 2012 12pm, Houchens 105

Session One: In this session, we will consider the current state of doctoral education and mentoring in the 21st century.

Golde, C.M. & Dore, T.M. (2001).  At Cross Purposes:  What the experiences of doctoral students reveal about doctoral education (www.phd-survey.org).  Philadelphia, PA: A report prepared for The Pew Charitable Trusts. 5-27.

Friday, November 2, 2012 12pm, Houchens 105

Session Two: In this session, we will discuss the various mentoring models and how they may or may not be applicable for current and future doctoral education.

Golde, C.M., Bueschel, A.C., Jones, L., & Walker, G.E. (2009). Advocating apprenticeship and intellectual community: Lessons from the Carnegie Initiative on the Doctorate. In R.G. Ehrenberg and C.V. Kuh (Eds.), Doctoral Education and Faculty of the Future (pp.53-64, 267-268). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Friday, January 18, 2013 12pm, Houchens 105

Session Three: In this session, we will consider possible alternative mentoring models.

Nerad, M. (2009). Confronting common assumptions: Designing future-oriented doctoral education.  In R.G. Ehrenberg and C.V. Kuh (Eds.), Doctoral Education and Faculty of the Future (pp.80-89). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Friday, March 1, 2013 12pm, Houchens 105

Session Four: In this session, we will discuss how to apply our thinking throughout the year to doctoral student mentoring and education at UofL. 

Peer Mentoring Workshop Series

This series of workshops will help students engage both the theoretical and pragmatic considerations of peer mentoring programming. Each session is designed to meet students and programs “where they are” in terms of peer mentoring experience and program development, providing practical and realistic guidance for improving peer mentoring across the departments. While these workshops are directed primarily towards graduate students as part of the PLAN initiative, they are open to any faculty and program staff invested in supporting peer mentoring in their departments. All sessions in Houchens 105. Please register at http://www.louisville.edu/plan

What is Peer Mentoring?- Sept. 24th 1-2pm
Characteristics of (Good) Peer Mentoring- Oct. 30th 3-4pm
Peer Mentoring for Recruitment- Feb. 13th 12-1pm
Ongoing Peer Mentoring- March 7th 7-8pm
Establishing Peer Mentoring Relationships- April 3rd 12-1pm

Mentoring for Success: What You Need to Know

In the constellation of faculty work responsibilities, one component that can consume significant time and energy is student mentoring.  While the literature on graduate student success demonstrates the importance of a supportive mentor for graduate student success, often faculty receive little guidance or support about how to be effective in this role. In this session, Drs. Beth Boehm and Kathy Baumgartner will facilitate a discussion as a part of the Delphi Center Dine and Discover series, about strategies for effective mentoring. This conversation will supplement “Year of the Mentor” activities on campus.  Join us as we consider how to improve student mentoring at UofL.

Thursday, January 31, 2013, noon – 2 p.m., Delphi Center Lab
Please register at http://louisville.edu/delphi/programs/discover/mentoring

Tentative Guest Speaker: Dr. Lenny Cassuto

Lenny Cassuto is the author or editor of seven books on American literature and culture. The most recent of these are The Cambridge History of the American Novel (2011), of which he was General Editor, and The Cambridge Companion to Baseball (2011), winner of the Best Anthology Award from the North American Society of Sports Historians. Cassuto is the author of Hard-Boiled Sentimentality: The Secret History of American Crime Stories, which was nominated for the Edgar and Macavity Awards and named one of the Ten Best Books of 2008 in the crime and mystery category by The Los Angeles Times. Cassuto is also an award-winning journalist who writes on subjects ranging from science to sports, in venues from The New York Times to salon.com. He writes a monthly column for the Chronicle of Higher Education called “The Graduate Adviser,” and is currently writing a book about the state of American graduate education. His website is www.lcassuto.com.

Dr. Cassuto may tentatively visit in the spring, facilitating and participating in discussions around issues of graduate student mentoring. More information will be available in the coming months.