Home » Faculty and Staff » Resources for Directors of Graduate Programs » Rackham’s Faculty Committee on Mentoring (MORE)

MORE (Mentoring Others Results in Excellence) is Rackham’s faculty committee on mentoring, which engages with faculty and graduate students to foster conversations about mentoring. Specifically, the committee provides faculty with effective tools and practices for mentoring graduate students in an effort to improve retention, productivity and overall student success. MORE committee members are twelve faculty with appointments in six different Schools and Colleges of the University of Michigan and it is sponsored by Rackham Graduate School, and The Office of the Provost.

Departmental Mentoring Workshops

The MORE committee is available to facilitate departmental mentoring workshops upon request. Faculty in this workshop will identify and discuss norms for faculty-graduate mentoring within their field(s) in order to discover the range of strategies that faculty use in advising and mentoring graduate students. Departments have used these workshops as an opportunity to discuss the professional development of students, the increasing diversity of the graduate student population, the importance of two-way conversations between mentor and mentee, and the value of written mentoring plans. These workshops can be tailored to meet the needs of the program and are typically developed in consultation with program leadership.

Mentoring Plan Workshops

The goal of the Mentoring Plan Workshop is to enhance the mentoring relationship between the student and research faculty mentor or advisor. During these workshops, students and faculty, from across the university will have the opportunity to develop a mentoring plan. A mentoring plan is a two-way agreement about needs and expectations and it is co-written by the student and research faculty mentor or advisor. It is an excellent way to establish and support mentor-mentee relationships. Because this program is aimed to enhance the mentoring relationship, mentors and students are expected to attend the workshop together. The mentoring plan workshop is offered three times a year, once in the fall semester and twice in the spring term.

Workshop Materials

Mentoring Templates

• Developing Shared Expectations (PDF)
• Developing Shared Expectations (Word Doc to fill in)

Legacy Mentoring Plans

• Example 1 (PDF), Example 1 (Word Doc)
• Example 2 (PDF), Example 2 (Word Doc)
• Example 3 (PDF), Example 3 (Word Doc)

Guides for Faculty and Students

• How to Mentor Graduate Students (PDF)
• How to Get the Mentoring You Want (PDF)

Additional Resources

Useful Links

Select links for faculty and staff mentors of graduate students. These links have been collected to help you support the academic success of graduate students througout the University of Michigan. Please email your link suggestions to us.

University Career Alumni Network (UCAN)

Through its University Career Alumni Network, the Alumni Association strives to connect current students and members of the Alumni Association with mentors who are able to provide career coaching on topics ranging from information about their occupation to relocating to a new city. Alumni mentors represent all job stages – from early career to experienced professionals.

Spectrum Center – OUTlist

The OUTlist seeks to foster professional relationships and mentoring opportunities through engaging LGBTQ faculty, staff, students, and alumni in the creation on online searchable profiles.

Council of Graduate Schools Ph.D. Completion Project, Mentoring and Advising Promising Practices

Success in achieving a PhD depends upon a close and effective working relationship with one’s advisor and mentor. And yet, while virtually every doctoral student has a research advisor, survey data from the PhD Completion Project and other studies show that not every student has access in their doctoral program to someone they consider a mentor…

Postdoctoral Researcher Mentoring Plans

Mentoring plan resource page created by the Office of Research, UC Santa Barbara.

Downloads

Supported by Rackham Graduate School, MORE provides faculty with effective tools and practices for mentoring graduate students and seeks to improve the graduate school experience for all students.

Mentoring Guide: A Guide for Mentors

Center for Health Leadership & Practice Public Health Institute Oakland, CA, November 2003. This mentoring Guide is based on materials originally developed by the Center for Health Leadership & Practice, Public Health Institute, for the State Health Directors Executive Mentoring and Consultation Program of the State Health Leadership Initiative (SHLI). The SHLI is administered by the National Governors Association with funding provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Mentoring Guide: A Guide for Protégés

Center for Health Leadership & Practice Public Health Institute Oakland, CA, November 2003. This mentoring Guide is based on materials originally developed by the Center for Health Leadership & Practice, Public Health Institute, for the State Health Directors Executive Mentoring and Consultation Program of the State Health Leadership Initiative (SHLI). The SHLI is administered by the National Governors Association with funding provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Pay It Forward: Guidance for Mentoring Junior Scholars

This resource for mentors was jointly developed by the Forum for Youth Investment and the William T. Grant Foundation. It features knowledge gleaned from our work with current and former William T. Grant Foundation Scholars and their mentees, as well as a review of selected literature.

MORE Committee

Rackham Graduate School formed the MORE Committee in 2008 with support from the Provost’s Office to improve the graduate school experience for all students.

Patrice Speeter Beddor

John C. Catford Collegiate Professor of Linguistics and Professor of Linguistics (LS&A)

Valeria Bertacco

Rackham Associate Dean for Physical Sciences and Engineering, Arthur Thurnau Professor and Professor of Computer Science (CoE)

Cheong-Hee Chang

Professor of Microbiology and Immunology (Medical School)

Joshua H. Cole

Professor of History (LS&A)

Anita L. Gonzalez

Professor of Theatre and Drama (School of Music, Theatre and Dance)

Mark Hunter

Henry A. Gleason Collegiate Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Professor of Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) and Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (LS&A)

Cagliyan Kurdak

Professor of Physics and Academic Program Director, Applied Physics (LS&A)

Zana Kwaiser

Manager, Associate Deans’ Initiatives, Rackham Graduate School

Adam Matzger

MORE Commitee Chair; Charles G. Overberger Collegiate Professor of Chemistry, Professor of Chemistry (LS&A) and Professor of Macromolecular Science & Engineering (CoE)

Bethany B. Moore

Galen B. Toews M.D. Collegiate Professor of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Professor of Internal Medicine, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology and Director of the Doctoral Program in Immunology (Medical School)

Herbert Graves Winful

Arthur F. Thurnau Professor and Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (CoE)

Alford A. Young, Jr.

Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, Professor of Sociology, Professor of Afroamerican and African Studies (LS&A) and Professor of Public Policy (School of Public Policy)

Michaela T. Zint

Professor of Environment and Sustainability (SEAS), Professor of Environment (LS&A), and Professor of Education (School of Education)