IMPLEMENTATION TOOLKIT

As per the Guidelines for Graduate Student Mentoring Advising, we are providing a set of resources for support units, faculty and graduate students as they implement best practices to optimize mentoring relationships at MSU. This toolkit incorporates materials that will be relevant for a wide variety of disciplines.

There are five types of resources in this toolkit: (1) Student-Advisor Expectations Scales; (2) Written Mentor-Mentee Agreements; (3) Doctoral Student Progress Towards Degree Worksheets; (4) Mentor Evaluation Resources, and (5) general resources on diversity & inclusion in graduate education.

In each section, there are worksheets, models (from others), and scholarly articles for your use.

STUDENT-ADVISOR EXPECTATION SCALES

One of the most important things mentors and protegees can do at the beginning and throughout the relationship is to continually align expectations. Faculty and students may have a difficult time having a frank discussion with one another about their relationship. Student-advisor expectations scales like the one below contain useful prompts for these conversations.

RESOURCE:

Worksheet: Student-Advisor Expectation Scales (PDF)

Original from Ingrid Moses, 1985, Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia. Adapted by Margaret Kiley and Kate Cadman, 1997, Centre for Learning & Teaching, Univ. of Technology, Sydney. Further adapted by Chris M. Golde, 2010, Stanford University.

WRITTEN MENTOR-MENTEE AGREEMENTS

Written Mentor-Mentee Agreements serve to codify expectations once they have been discussed. The types of expectations that can be addressed in mentor-mentee written agreements are unlimited.

RESOURCES:

Article: This article provides guidelines for developing expectations documents: Ten Simple Rules for Developing a Mentor-Mentee Expectations Document (PDF) (article retrieved from: https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005709)
Article: Identifying and Aligning Expectations in a Mentoring Relationship (PDF) (PDF retrieved from: https://doi-org.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/10.1111/j.1752-8062.2011.00356.x)

Article Highlight: Types of expectations that can be addressed in agreements

Domain	Description
Research	Knowledge of scholar about current developments in research area
	Technical skills of scholar in research methods and procedures
	Research productivity of scholar (e.g., conference abstracts, publications, grant applications)
	Progress of scholar toward research independence
	Responsible conduct of research by scholar and mentor
Education	Didactic activities (e.g., coursework, seminars, workshops) of scholar to fill gaps in research training
	Other educational activities to facilitate the scholar’s professional growth and career advancement
Professional development/ career advancement	Skills development of scholar (critical thinking, creativity, writing, speaking, reviewing, setting priorities, managing time and projects, teaching, mentoring, leading teams, working with others)
	Academic promotion of scholar (understanding and meeting promotion requirements)
	Networking by mentor on scholar’s behalf
	Skills development of scholar in the conduct of team science
	Maintaining appropriate work-life balance of scholar
	Supporting of scholar’s exploration of different career pathways
	Socializing the scholar to institutional culture (e.g., structures, processes, interpersonal climate)
	Identifying a process for ending the research mentoring relationship while continuing to support the scholar professionally as needed
Support	Allocation of scholar’s effort to research vs. nonresearch activities
	Support provided by mentor for scholar’s research (e.g., space, equipment, supplies, technician)
	Facilitated access of scholar to experts, training opportunities, key committees
	Opportunities to develop and work on multidisciplinary team projects
	Attendance of mentor at scholar’s presentations
	Advocacy on behalf of scholar
	Emotional support of scholar
Communication	Frequency of meetings with mentor, mentorship team, and program leadership
	Topics to be addressed at meetings, information to be prepared in advance of meetings
	Completion of progress reports by scholar and mentor for program director and departmental chair
	Coordinating input from multiple mentors and research team members
	Constructive critique and feedback (offered by mentor; asked for, reflected on, and applied by scholar; fol- lowed up on by both mentor and scholar)
	“Ground rules” for communication (e.g., openness, truthfulness, confidentiality)
Personal conduct/ interpersonal relations	Ethical/professional conduct by both scholar and mentor
	Understanding and respect for diversity by both scholar and mentor
	Strategies for managing conflicts in the mentoring relationship
	Appropriate acknowledgement of one another’s contributions to shared projects

Sample Agreements Co-Developed by Graduate Students & Faculty Members
- Compact 1: Co-Developed by Graduate Student & Faculty Member (PDF) (from https://d1uqjtzsuwlnsf.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/163/2016/11/UAB-Mentor-Contract.pdf)
- Compact 2: Co-Developed by Graduate Student & Faculty Member (PDF) (from https://rackham.umich.edu/sites/default/files/developing-shared-expectations.pdf)

Sample Agreements Developed by Graduate Advisor or Lab Director
- Sample Compact from Laboratory of Dr. Trina McMahon for GraduateStudents, University of Wisconsin-Madison (PDF)
- Working with Norman Ramsey: A Guide for Research Students (PDF)

Sample Agreements - College and/or University-Level
- Brown University Graduate School (docx) (retrieved from https://graduateschool.brown.edu/academics-research/graduate-advising-and-mentoring/advising-and-mentoring-resources-faculty)
- AAMC Postdoc-Mentor Compact (PDF) (retrieved from https://d1uqjtzsuwlnsf.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/163/2016/11/postdoccompact.pdf)

DOCTORAL STUDENT PROGRESS TOWARDS DEGREE WORKSHEET & GUIDES

The Graduate School requires all doctoral students to have yearly progress towards degree meetings.

RESOURCES:

Worksheet: Progress to Degree (Stanford) (doc) (from https://stanford.app.box.com/s/6dclnyj6ewv8byz5b374)
Article: Yearly Planning Meetings: Individualized Development Plans Aren’t Just More Paperwork (PDF) (retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2015.04.025)
- Worksheet Developed with Article Content (sample): Yearly Planning Meetings Template (PDF)

MENTOR AND MENTEE EVALUATION FORMS

RESOURCES:

Article: Measuring the effectiveness of faculty mentoring relationships (retrieved from: https://www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/pubmed/15618097)
- Article Highlight (Worksheet): Mentorship Effectiveness Scale (downloadable PDF)
Article: The Mentoring Competency Assessment (PDF)(retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3727250/)
- Article Highlight (Worksheet): Mentoring Competency Assessment - Mentor Self Reflection

Article Highlight (Worksheet): Mentoring Competency Assessment - Mentee Self Reflection

Diversity & Inclusion in Graduate Education

RESOURCES:

The Global Postgraduate Diversity Resource (https://cgsglobaldiversity.org/). This is a toolkit co-developed by the Council of Graduate Schools and the Educational Testing Service to help universities improve their diversity programming.
2018 Strategic Leaders Global Summit on Graduate Education (https://cgsnet.org/global-summit-2018). This site contains a link to conference proceedings.
NRMN's Unconscious Bias Course - Virtual and self-paced

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IMPLEMENTATION TOOLKIT

STUDENT-ADVISOR EXPECTATION SCALES

WRITTEN MENTOR-MENTEE AGREEMENTS

DOCTORAL STUDENT PROGRESS TOWARDS DEGREE WORKSHEET & GUIDES

MENTOR AND MENTEE EVALUATION FORMS

Diversity & Inclusion in Graduate Education