Mentoring Guidelines
The faculty mentor/student relationship will be one of the most important relationships you will have during your graduate career. UC Davis Graduate Council adopted faculty/student mentoring guidelines in 1999 updated in 2016, and then in 2023, that explain what mentoring is and the expectations faculty and students should have of one another. The UC Davis Graduate Council Mentoring Guidelines are below:
Mentoring is defined as a close relationship between a graduate student and a faculty member
who provides guidance, support and research advice in an individualized manner. Mentors use
inclusive approaches that acknowledge and affirm diverse identities and backgrounds. Mentors
provide holistic support of mentee personal and professional growth and success by providing
research training and linking mentees with appropriate resources when needed.
Graduate Council recognizes that the mentoring of graduate students by faculty is an integral
part of the graduate experience for both students and faculty. The responsibilities of the faculty
mentor are broad and diverse. They include, but are not limited to serving as a role model,
advising a student as to course work requirements, and providing formal instruction in a given
discipline as well as helping students identify and achieve their individual short and long-term
educational goals. While the major professor usually acts as a student’s primary mentor, many
of the mentoring “functions” described below, may also be performed by other program/group
faculty and staff over the course of a student’s graduate experience. A corollary to this
recognition is that much of the interaction of faculty with all students includes important
mentoring components, and we acknowledge that mentees benefit from a network of multiple
mentors. Similarly, graduate students have important responsibilities to ensure they are open to
and accepting of faculty mentoring and articulate their needs effectively. Thus, it is together that
faculty and students identify and discuss their goals and expectations for each other, and outline
approaches to reach those goals and satisfy those expectations.
Basic mentoring practices include guiding students through program expectations, protocols of
academic conduct, degree requirements, research and teaching, capstone work (such as thesis
or dissertation research), and professional development. Mentors should also act to support
students with disability and the well-being of mentees, but it is acknowledged that mentors may
not have the training to provide psychosocial support. When needed, mentors should help the
mentee seek appropriate resources that may include: trained faculty, graduate group Academic
Advisors, peer-councilors and support groups, Grad Program Coordinators and Chairs, Grad
Studies staff (https://grad.ucdavis.edu/mental-health-and-counseling-services) and support
programs (https://grad.ucdavis.edu/problems-and-dispute-resolution), or other university
resources such as the Ombuds office (https://ombuds.ucdavis.edu/) or student health and
counselling services (https://shcs.ucdavis.edu/) and other support (https://ossja.ucdavis.edu/).
Mentors and/or the advising system should provide, and students should acquire, a clear map of
program requirements from the beginning, making clear the course work requirements, and
expected timelines for completion of all required examinations and capstone requirements.
Mentors should approach the mentor-mentee relationship through these actions:
• Recognizing the possible educational, cultural, systemic, and/or socio-economic
disparities affecting their mentee(s) due to their identity and set of circumstances.
• Respecting their mentee(s), including the mentee(s)’ identity including race, ethnicity,
gender and gender expression, age, visible and non-visible disability, nationality, sexual
orientation, citizenship status, veteran status, religious/non-religious, spiritual, or political
beliefs, socio-economic class, status within or outside the university, or any of the other
differences among people.
• Offering support and advocacy to students of all backgrounds, especially those facing
challenges related to racism, injustice, and inequity.
• Making an effort to know your mentee and build a positive relationship based on mutual
respect and understanding.
• Establishing concrete and transparent expectations, preferences, and goals with your
student.
• Recognizing boundaries and priorities your student may have within or outside of the
university.
• Respecting your student’s private information by not disclosing it unless otherwise stated
or required by policy.
• Assisting students in the identification of diverse support networks (people who provide
meaningful representation and can help the student for different aspects of their tenure
at UCD).
• Being a student’s advocate and assisting the student in a timely manner in finding
sources to support dissertation research (teaching assistantships, research
assistantships, fellowships, research needs and required resources, including desk
and/or laboratory space).
• Addressing problems or challenges that could affect completion of the degree as soon
as they become aware of them.
• Tailoring, modifying or adjusting the faculty member’s mentoring style to the particular
needs of each graduate student, to a reasonable extent.
• Educating themselves on microaggressions and avoid committing them towards your
mentee; undertake implicit bias training.
• Encouraging an open exchange of ideas, including by empowering students to
independently follow research ideas of their own whenever feasible.
• Checking regularly on progress. Graduate Council recognizes each graduate
program/group, mentor and mentee should agree upon a reasonable frequency of
meetings and communications, which may vary widely by discipline, but should not
usually occur less than at least once per quarter.
• Encouraging and giving feedback on written work, oral presentations and experimental
work in a timely manner within a mutually agreed upon time frame, and consistent with
Graduate Council policies.
• Providing and discussing clear criteria for authorship of collaborative research,
consistent with Graduate Council policies on co-authorship.
• Encouraging participation in professional meetings of regional groups as well as of
learned societies and facilitating interactions and networking with other scholars, on
campus and within the wider professional community.
• Helping the student in identifying appropriate resources for career guidance, providing
help with preparations of CV and job interviews, as well as writing letters of
recommendation in a timely manner.
• Empowering and encouraging the student in seeking their own career paths and
supporting the student independent of the chosen career paths they identify.
• Participating regularly in mentorship training, including diversity, equity, and inclusion
training so as to provide inclusive approaches to mentoring that acknowledge and affirm
diverse identities and backgrounds.
• Maintaining professionalism and open-mindedness, even when confronted with difficult
conversations.
• Avoiding intended or unintended misuse of authority.
• Refer mentees to relevant resources to support their well-being.
As partners in the mentoring relationship, graduate students have responsibilities. Mentees should approach the mentor-mentee relationship through these actions:
• Respecting their mentor, including their mentor’s identity including race, ethnicity, gender
and gender expression, age, visible and non-visible disability, nationality, sexual
orientation, citizenship status, veteran status, religious/non-religious, spiritual, or political
beliefs, socio-economic class, status within or outside the university, or any of the other
differences among people.
• Making an effort to know their mentor and building a positive relationship based on
mutual respect and understanding.
• Establishing concrete and transparent expectations, preferences, and goals with their
mentor.
• Recognizing boundaries and priorities their mentor may have within or outside of the
university.
• Respecting their mentor’s private information by not disclosing it unless otherwise stated
or required by policy.
• Educating themselves on microaggressions and avoid committing them towards their
mentor.
• Seeking assistance from multiple individuals/organizations to fulfill the mentoring roles
described above, because one faculty member may not be able to satisfy all of a
student’s mentoring needs.
• Understanding and clearly articulating to their mentors their own mentoring needs and
how they change through their graduate tenure.
• Respecting their mentor’s other responsibilities and time commitments.
• Communicating regularly with their mentors, especially their major professor, including
updates on progress, challenges, needs, goals and expected completion timelines.
• Completing tasks in a timely fashion and following mutually agreed upon timelines and
informing mentors about expected absences and delays before they occur.
• Participating in departmental and graduate program/group community including
attending activities, lectures, and events.
• Seeking constructive criticism and feedback on academic work and acting in a manner
that will encourage mentors to see them as colleagues.
• Seeking information, exploring career options and developing clear career goals.
• Participating regularly in mentee-ship training, including diversity, equity, and inclusion
training.
• Maintaining professionalism and open-mindedness, even when confronted with difficult
conversations.
Revised and endorsed by Graduate Council May 19, 2023
Additional Resources
- Mentoring Resources for Mentees (UC Davis)
- Mentoring Up (UC Davis)
- Resources for Mentors (UC Davis)