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Spring 2012

Mentor Communication and Mentee Understanding (Friday January 27: Note date has changed.) The foundation of a comfortable relationship between a mentor and mentee is effective communication. Because of diversity in communication styles, differences in levels of experience, and the hierarchical relationship between student and professor, it is important to reflect on how (and how well) we communicate. Likewise, it is important to be able to assess how well we are understood. This workshop will focus on fostering communication and explore diverse strategies for enhancing mentee understanding.

Learning Objectives for Communication:

Mentors will have the knowledge and skill to:

Foster open communication with the mentee
Address how difference in communication styles, background, position of power, etc. can alter the intent and the perception of what is said and heard
Use multiple strategies for improving communication.
Assess/determine their mentees understanding of core concepts and procedures in the research field
Consider diverse strategies for enhancing mentee understanding
Explain and/or model the nature of science and research in their discipline
Assess their mentee's ability to develop and conduct a research project, analyze data and present results.

Independence (Friday, March 2)

An important goal in any mentoring relationship is helping the mentee become independent; yet defining what an independent mentee knows and can do is not often articulated by the mentor nor the mentee. Defining what independence looks like and developing skills to foster independence is key to becoming an effective mentor.

Learning Objectives for Independence:

Mentors will have the knowledge and skill to:

Consider the important role they play in academic, professional and personal development of their mentee
Employ various strategies to build their mentees' confidence
Implement varied approaches to foster their mentees' independence in scientific research
Establish trust between themselves and their mentees
Create an environment where mentees can achieve goals
Stimulate creativity

Ethics (Friday, March 23)

Mentors play an important role in both teaching mentees about ethical behavior and modeling ethical behavior.Moreover, there are many ethical issues to consider when entering a relationship with a mentee based on the power dynamic that exists between mentors and mentees. Reflecting upon and discussing ethical behavior is an important part of becoming an effective mentor.

Learning Objectives for Ethics:

Mentors will have the knowledge and skill to:

Articulate the issues of ethics they need to discuss with their mentees Clarify the role they play in teaching mentees about ethics; both as teachers and role models

Diversity (Thursday, April 19)

Diversity along a range of dimensions offers both challenges and opportunities to any mentor-mentee relationship. Learning to identify, reflect upon, and engage with diversity is critical to forming and maintaining an effective mentoring relationship.

Learning Objectives for Diversity:

Mentors will have the knowledge and skill to:
Have an increased awareness of the biases and prejudices they bring to the mentor-mentee relationship
Have some concrete strategies for addressing issues of diversity and engage in conversation about diversity with their mentee
Understand their impact on a mentee: how their interaction with and role modeling for the mentee can impact that mentee's decision to commit to careers in science
Improve their multicultural competency.