Mentoring

Effective mentoring is critical to the success of both students and faculty in engineering research.  The National Academies have released a report on The Science of Effective Mentoring in STEMM and an accompanying online toolkit for implementing its recommendations.  The MSU Graduate School offers workshops for both mentors and mentees, and can also link interested faculty and students to facilitators on campus who can provide customized training for mentors, mentees and those new to research.  Within the College of Engineering, Katy Colbry offers a one-hour seminar on Mentoring Graduate Students, and can provide customized training for faculty and students upon request.

The College offers a Graduate Research Course Syllabus Template to assist faculty and students in communicating about expectations when students are enrolled in 899 (Master's Thesis Research) or 999 (Doctoral Dissertation Research) or similar graduate-level independent research coursework. Syllabi are required for all courses per the MSU Code of Teaching Responsibility, and this template is provided as an option for faculty who prefer not to create their own syllabi from scratch.

Good Mentoring in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) is a well-studied problem and there are a wealth of resources available to help mentors and mentees improve their working relationships. Some excellent resources to provide an overview of best practices for mentoring include:

• "What is a Mentor?" (this is a reprint of the first chapter of the National Academies book listed next)
• "Adviser, Teacher, Role Model, Friend: On Being a Mentor to Students in Science and Engineering" (National Academies, 1997, http://nap.edu/5789)
• "Entering Mentoring: A Seminar to Train a New General of Scientists" (Handelsman, Pfund, Lauffer, Pribbenow, 2005)
• "MSU Guidelines for Graduate Student Mentoring and Advising" (January 2020)
• "Mentoring Resources" (MSU Academic Advancement Network)
• "Resources for Faculty Advisors" (MSU Graduate School)

Aligning Expectations is one of the key factors for establishing successful mentoring relationships.  Mentors and mentees in the College of Engineering are strongly encouraged to discuss goals, expectations, timelines, and communication strategies for their research collaboration.  The results of these discussions should be documented in writing, reviewed regularly, and revised as needed.  

In developing your own expectations documents, you may find it helpful to review the following resources:

• "Ten Simple Rules for Developing a Mentor-Mentee Expectations Document" (PLOS Computational Biology. September 21, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005709)
• "Mentoring Compacts/Contracts Examples" (UW Institute for Clinical and Translational Research)
• "Mentoring Guidelines" (Graduate Council, University of California-Merced. September 23, 2014.)
• "DIB Lab" (Dr. Titus Brown, University of California-Davis) - check out the links to lab code of conduct, philosophy, and work guidelines for practical ideas.
• "Scaffolded Structuring of Undergraduate Research Projects" (ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, 2014)

Maintaining Effective Communication is another critical component of successful mentoring relationships.  Mentors and mentees in the College of Engineering are strongly encouraged to develop and follow best practices for effective meetings about their research (such as creating agendas, taking notes, and following up on tasks).  Regular written communication is helpful for documenting progress, timelines, and expectations.  One good strategy is to have mentees email a weekly "3x3" update message to their mentors, which has the following format:

This Week up to 3 bullet points highlight key accomplishments or tasks completed in the last week keep each bullet brief; a phrase or two, not multiple sentences Questions/Concerns up to 3 bullet points highlight challenges, problems, or questions from the last week keep each bullet brief; a phrase or two, not multiple sentences Next Week up to 3 bullet points highlight goals, tasks or focus areas for the upcoming week keep each bullet brief; a phrase or two, not multiple sentences --- Additional details and information can be added here, if applicable.  This is the space to provide lengthy commentary on any of the items summarized in the 3x3 email.

Requiring a weekly 3x3 update has numerous benefits for both mentors and mentees.  It requires mentees to reflect on their work, anticipate challenges, and plan their next steps.  It also provides a weekly writing exercise that helps mentees build skills for documenting and describing their research.  It helps mentors keep track of mentees' progress, identify problems, and determine when assistance or guidance is needed.  The 3x3 update can also serve as an excellent (initial) agenda for mentor-mentee meetings; can easily be shared with other members of the research team to keep everyone apprised of progress; and can inform the annual reporting process.