December 10, 2024Mentoring in a Constellation: Supervisors and Mentors of Student Employeesby Jessie L. Moore, Maureen Vandermaas-Peeler, and Tim PeeplesIn our 2020 institutional survey on mentoring, fourth-year students identified on-campus student employment as the fifth most common experience that prepared them to connect with potential mentors. Supervisors of student employees offer a dynamic example of meaningful relationships that can…
December 6, 2024What’s in an Undergraduate Research Space?by Sabrina L. Thurman, Kenan Carter, Anna Grace Gilbert, and Kyla ZeldinThis semester, we have found ourselves thinking about the importance of research spaces for undergraduate research mentoring and research productivity. Dr. Thurman recently returned from a post-promotion sabbatical and rebuilt the infrastructure for her lab. Her psychology research program centers…
November 12, 2024Conceptualizing Mentoring Constellations in Study Abroad: Mentors’ Perspectivesby Maureen Vandermaas-PeelerRecently I had the opportunity to think about mentoring in the context of a semester study abroad program with undergraduate research (UR) mentors working with DIS, Study Abroad in Scandinavia. Before talking with the mentors, I had asked their students…
November 8, 2024Help!: When Problems Arise in Mentoring Relationshipsby Sabrina L. ThurmanJust like any other relationship, differences in opinions, values, and desires can lead to problems in mentoring as the relationship advances. Problems in mentoring might lead to superficial interactions, below-average engagement, unmet expectations, and difficulty relating to one another (Eby…
October 29, 2024Conceptualizing Mentoring Constellations in Study Abroad: Students’ Perspectivesby Maureen Vandermaas-PeelerWhat kind of development and/or support do your mentors provide? It was necessary at some point to figure out how the knowledge I was obtaining at university could be applied. Therefore … I worked at a biotech company where I…
October 8, 2024Building Trust in Mentoring Relationshipsby Sabrina L. Thurman, Azul Bellot, and Tiffanie GrantMutual trust is widely recognized as a significant component of effective mentoring relationships because emotional and psychological safety allows both mentors and mentees to use their energy for learning and productivity rather than self-protection. Unfortunately, limited research exists on building…
September 17, 2024Mentoring Constellations in Global Contextsby Maureen Vandermaas-Peeler, Jessie L. Moore, and Tim PeeplesRecent scholarship emphasizes the essential role of mentoring to support student engagement in undergraduate research (UR) and global learning and highlights the potential of blending these high-impact practices (HIPs) for enhanced learning and relationship-building (Allocco et al. 2022; Whitehead et…
September 12, 2024Strategies for Onboarding New Undergraduate Research Student Menteesby Sabrina ThurmanWe are approaching the time of year many mentors begin thinking about onboarding new undergraduate (and graduate) student mentees in their research programs. This exciting time marks the beginning of what will hopefully become a meaningful and productive relationship (if…
September 5, 2024Academic Play: The Power of Mentoringby Caroline J. KetchamIf Einstein says play is the highest form of research, I like to think undergraduate research is one of the purist forms of academic play. I thoroughly enjoy the sandboxes, obstacle courses, and playgrounds I have gotten to engage in…
September 2, 2024Mentoring Magic: Mentored Undergraduate Research in Global Contexts by Jessie L. Moore and Nolan SchultheisMaking College “Worth It” – Season 2, Episode 1 Dawn Whitehead and Maureen Vandermaas-Peeler, two of the co-editors of Mentored Undergraduate Research in Global Contexts: Integrated High-Impact Practices for Student Success, join our podcast to talk about the intersection of…