Graduate school is no picnic. The classes are competitive, the reading extensive and the pressure to pass preliminary exams and produce an original thesis enormous. In keeping with the campus-wide trend, the faculty mentoring available to graduate students at Duke leaves much to be desired.
Graduate students have selected their primary field of study, and in this capacity need less "advising" than undergraduate students.
However, they still require mentoring and support, just of a slightly different sort. Mentoring on the part of faculty members should include guiding students in research, sponsoring students in their work outside of campus, advising on grant writing, publishing, presentation of research findings and job placement. In addition, simply having a mentor who has been through the rigors of graduate school would provide to many students some much welcome perspective.
The problem with graduate mentoring, like undergraduate advising, is that Duke lacks a formal, institutionalized framework to guide faculty mentors. Faculty members do not, in some cases, know what is expected of them, and more importantly, have no system of rewards nor of accountability to motivate mentoring efforts.
Lewis Siegel, dean of the Graduate School, is currently considering implementing a rewards program for good mentors, loosely based on similar programs already in place at top schools around the country. Such a plan is exactly what the University needs, and Siegel should make haste to make the idea a reality.
The principal components of any effective mentoring rewards program should be public recognition and a sense of lasting accomplishment. For example, at Washington University at St. Louis, Outstanding Faculty Mentor honorees are honored at a banquet, and receive plaques. Each year, the new inductees are recognized alongside past winners. Faculty members at Washington University consider receiving a mentoring award one of the highest honors of their careers.
It is unrealistic to assume that a simple system of rewards will instantaneously mend Duke's menotring woes. However, it is a plan that should be given serious consideration. A mentoring culture must be built from the ground up, and the first step is getting students and professors to recognize the vital role mentorship plays in the success of graduate programs.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.