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1. Collaboration through a Pandemic: A Virtual Inter-Institutional Collaborative Faculty Mentoring Training Workshop Model.

   Aumiller, J. (January 2022, Journal on excellence in college teaching)

   Mentoring of graduate students and postdoctoral scholars is an integral part of training at research institutions. Mentoring scholarship has rapidly evolved over the last two decades, elucidating the need for shifts in mentor/mentee relationships, including the need for mentor training. The University of Maryland, Baltimore and the University of Maryland College Park combined mentoring workshops based on an established curriculum. Workshops were offered to faculty at different institutions in the Maryland system growing out of a need from the National Science Foundation Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (NSF AGEP) Promise Academy Alliance. The authors share the model they developed as well as the benefits and challenges of the inter-institutional approach. 

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2. Work-in-Progress: The Design and Implementation of EFRI-Research Experience in Mentoring Catalyst Initiative Paper

   Qaqish, O. B. (July 2021, ASEE Annual Conference proceedings)

   null (Ed.)

   The National Science Foundation (NSF) Emerging Frontiers and Innovation (EFRI) Research Experience and Mentoring (REM) program nationally supports hands-on research and ongoing mentorship in STEM fields at various universities and colleges. The NSF EFRI-REM Mentoring Catalyst initiative was designed to build and train these robust, interactive research mentoring communities that are composed of faculty, postdoctoral associates and graduate student mentors, to broaden participation of underrepresented groups in STEM research who are funded through NSF EFRI-REM. This work-in-progress paper describes the first five years of this initiative, where interactive training programs were implemented from multiple frameworks of effective mentoring. Principal investigators, postdoctoral associates and graduate students are often expected to develop and establish mentoring plans without any formal training in how to be effective mentors. Since the start of this initiative, over 300 faculty, postdoctoral associates and graduate students have been trained on promising practices, strategies, and tools to enhance their research mentoring experiences. In addition to formal mentor training, opportunities to foster a community of practice with current mentors and past mentor training participants (sage mentors) were provided. During these interactions, promising mentoring practices were shared to benefit the mentors and the different mentoring populations that the EFRI-REMs serve. The community of practice connected a diverse group of institutions and faculty to help the EFRI-REM community in its goal of broadening participation across a range of STEM disciplines. Those institutions are then able to discuss, distill and disseminate best practices around the mentoring of participants through targeted mentored training beyond the EFRI-REM at their home institutions. Not only does the EFRI-REM Catalyst initiative focus on broadening participation via strategic training of research mentors, it also empowers mentees, including undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral associates, in their research experiences through an entering research undergraduate course and formal mentoring training workshops. Future expansion to other academic units (e.g., colleges, universities) builds on the research collaborations and the initiatives developed and presented in this work-in-progress paper. A long-term goal is to provide insights via collaborative meetings (e.g., webinars, presentations) for STEM and related faculty who are assembling an infrastructure (e.g., proposals for the ERFI-REM program) across a range of research structures. In summary, this work-in-progress paper provides a description of the design and implementation of this initiative, preliminary findings, expanding interactions to other NSF supported Engineering Research Centers, and the future directions of the EFRI-REM Mentoring Catalyst initiative. 

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3. Key features of a long-standing student-led women in physics mentoring program

   https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0176033  

   Chessey, Mary K; Negussie, Sara D; Smith, Megan_D Marshall; Chmielewski, Mika A; Burson, Kristen M; Duck, Alison E; Hamilton-Campos, Kathleen A; Banerjee, Amitava (January 2023, AIP Conference Proceedings)

   As members of the student-initiated and student-led Women in Physics (WiP) organization (now called “Physicists of Underrepresented Genders”) in the Department of Physics at the University of Maryland College Park, we describe a mentoring program that started in 2012. The WiP group prioritizes creating a welcoming social environment for women and gender-diverse members of the physics community, as well as opportunities to network and learn about academic and career development. Each year, the long-standing mentoring program pairs interested undergraduates with graduate student or postdoc volunteers. Mentor-mentee matches commit to meeting for the academic year, but pairs often continue in following years and even after leaving the university. The WiP student organization leaders encourage pairs to meet at least three times during a 12-week semester, and group activities are organized to support this goal. Brief surveys completed by participants over the years have enabled the WiP leadership to assess and improve the program iteratively. In-depth reflections from one recent mentor-mentee pair provide insight on key elements that may have been the most beneficial to participants. Mentor-mentee interactions shifted to a virtual, long-distance environment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Implications for starting or maintaining mentoring programs for women in physics are discussed. 

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4. MENTORING THE MENTORS: A WORKSHOP SERIES TO SUPPORT INCLUSIVE MENTORING PRACTICES

   Hofmann, GE; Beaufort, V; Clare, XS; Phommasa, M (December 2023, Oceanography)

   As part of the Field-based Undergraduate Engagement through Research, Teaching, and Education (FUERTE) program at the University of California, Santa Barbara, we developed a training program—a set of integrated one-hour workshops— to help our direct mentors (e.g., graduate students and postdoctoral fellows) develop stronger mentoring skills. |e trainings provided opportunities for the mentors to focus on professional development and to take time to cultivate their intentional mentoring approaches, and for the program to advocate for self-care and self-awareness in the mentoring space. 

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5. Mentoring the Mentors: A Workshop Series to Support Inclusive Mentoring Practices

   https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2024.127  

   Hofmann, Gretchen; Beaufort, Virginia; Clare, Xochitl; Phommasa, Malaphone (December 2023, Oceanography)

   As part of the Field-based Undergraduate Engagement through Research, Teaching, and Education (FUERTE) program at the University of California, Santa Barbara, we developed a training program—a set of integrated one-hour workshops—to help our direct mentors (e.g., graduate students and postdoctoral fellows) develop stronger mentoring skills. The trainings provided opportunities for the mentors to focus on professional development and to take time to cultivate their intentional mentoring approaches, and for the program to advocate for self-care and self-awareness in the mentoring space. 

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