By Jeremy Craig, Communications Manager for the Office of the Provost

Graduate studies are a commitment not only for students, but also for the faculty who help guide them through their programs.

There’s what is taught in the curriculum, but there’s also a lot that represents the practical, tacit knowledge needed to navigate the university and life in academia.

Georgia State has launched a new graduate mentoring website at https://graduatementoring.gsu.edu to provide useful resources for both faculty and students in this important aspect of graduate education.

A project of the Graduate School and the Office of Faculty Affairs, it has a wealth of useful advice, references, trainings, guides and other resources aimed at strengthening the mentoring experience between faculty and students.

How Mentorship Makes a Difference

“There’s nothing more important to graduate students’ professional development than mentorship – and good quality mentorship,” said Lisa Armistead, Dean of the Graduate School. “I know that it was life changing for me.”

She entered into graduate school with no intention of becoming a professor doing research but had wanted to be a clinical psychologist outside of the academy.

“It was Dr. Rex Forehand’s mentorship that led me on the path to academia,” Dr. Armistead continued. “I am quite confident that this is the right path for me. I never would have been on this path if he had not been such an outstanding mentor.”

For Cirleen DeBlaere, Director of Faculty Development for the Office of Faculty Affairs, her doctoral mentor helped her to understand and appreciate how our unique experiences and perspectives can influence our work in important and impactful ways.

“She’s an amazing scholar, but she also contextualizes her work to have social implications that are meaningful,” Dr. DeBlaere said. “She inspired me to do the same.”

“Beyond that, she helped me to navigate not only graduate school, but also academia after graduation,” she continued.

Conversely, the lack of mentorship – or, having poor mentorship – has consequences.

“Labs are less productive, and there can be conflict that goes unresolved,” Dr. Armistead said. “Students might never graduate, among other negative outcomes we are seeking to prevent.”

Meeting the Need

Unfortunately, some faculty have little to no frame of reference based on their personal experience when they were graduate students.

“If you didn’t have really good mentoring, you might not know what strong mentorship can be and how best to engage it,” Dr. DeBlaere said.

“In most cases of poor mentorship, it’s not that the mentor is malicious, but it’s that the mentor doesn’t know how to do it any differently,” Dr. Armistead shared.

In some cases, there are faculty who are highly interested in improving their mentorship skills but need a guide.

“There are many resources out there around how to mentor effectively,” Dr. Armistead continued. “We didn’t have any of those resources compiled and catalogued, and the website is a way to do that.”

Empowering Graduate Students

D’Asha Daniels, a Ph.D. student who assisted with the building of the website, has no issue with speaking up for her concerns or for needed advice. Some of her peers, however, need help.

Not knowing where to go or how to start is only one part of the issue.

“What I hear from a lot of my peers is about the power differential,” Daniels said. “There’s a power differential while we’re trying to find ways to elevate our careers and earn more in our fields.”

“So, when we look to faculty or we’re looking for mentorship, there is a fear associated with that,” Daniels continued. “What if they won’t accept me as a mentee? What if they don’t have time? Or what if the questions that I’m asking will look bad?”

That’s why the graduate mentoring website is not only for faculty, but also for graduate students.

Daniels and fellow graduate students who collaborated with the Graduate School and the Office of Faculty Affairs were a key part of the site’s development, providing their input and suggestions about what would be most valuable and helpful to them and their peers.

“Everybody’s program isn’t the same, and so we wanted to make sure that what we were getting out was kind of clear and useful for everyone,” she said.

The Greater Strategic Picture: Student Success 2.0 and COACHE

The graduate mentoring website aligns with the high-level view of Georgia State’s priorities, plans and vision.

In particular, the graduate mentoring website can be seen as part of two larger paths of action at a strategic level: through the university’s Blueprint to 2033 strategic plan, and the university’s COACHE action plans.

Student Success 2.0 – Blueprint to 2033

The 2023-33 strategic plan aims to take Georgia State’s well-known achievements in undergraduate student success and support and expand them – “Student Success 2.0.” Success at the graduate level is one part of this strategic pillar.

Being a graduate student requires a lot of balance and handling of multiple priorities, personal, professional and educational.

When the balance is out of sorts – when students are overwhelmed, when they are not sure of their next steps, or when they have difficulty juggling competing life priorities – it can be detrimental not only to their quality of life and academic performance, but in some cases, it can hinder progression to the finish line.

In some cases, it means not remaining in their graduate program at all.

Active, engaging mentorship is one way to help keep students on track.

“I sit down and do a plan of study with each of my graduate students in the first couple of weeks they’re here, and we create a timeline all the way to five years in the future – including all milestones needed to complete their degree,” Dr. Armistead shared. “Though this is only one aspect of mentoring, it incorporates their long-term professional goals and increases the likelihood that they stay on track. We revisit this plan of study during each of their annual reviews.”

COACHE: Aiding Faculty With Service and the Spirit of Mentoring

A great university requires a great faculty. And that means attracting and retaining the best – making Georgia State the best place to work in higher education.

The Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) improvement process is key to this at Georgia State.

It’s a cyclical effort to evaluate, refine and take action on issues identified by faculty. An effort of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, it is considered the “gold standard” in the field. Georgia State is in its second round.

Boosting faculty mentoring has been a priority under the COACHE action plans, but mentoring is also something that is part of another effort: addressing faculty workloads.

Service is part of a faculty member’s workload in many cases, and it can include student success and student mentoring efforts.

The graduate mentoring website helps faculty to make it simpler to engage in this part of service, providing needed information at hand in one convenient place.

“When we consider the multiple pulls on faculty’s time, having curated materials that are ready to use, not having to reinvent the wheel, can be really helpful,” Dr. DeBlaere said.

Mentoring in the Long View: A Shift in the Discussion

What a graduate student experiences from their faculty mentor or advisor can endure beyond that student’s experience alone.

When that graduate student enters their profession, as faculty themselves or in other roles, they can – intentionally or unintentionally – pass along the behaviors and attitudes of their own advisors or mentors and become part of a cycle.

“Our hope is that the resources at the graduate mentoring website can facilitate the acquisition of practices within the mentoring relationship that can have long lasting positive impact,” Dr. DeBlaere said.

By improving mentoring of graduate students – and graduate students feeling empowered to participate in the mentoring process – a legacy of quality mentoring can continue.