Many of the points stressed in this document already form part of FAS and GSAS policy. However, the presence of many of these legislated ideas and concepts are not often felt in the day-to-day workings of graduate education and therefore do not serve the purpose for which they were formulated. The purpose of this document is to provide a working platform of recommendations that individual departments and faculty members can then work toward institutionalizing.

I. Advising as Mentoring

Without a doubt, the advisor has the most direct influence in shaping the course of a graduate studentŐs intellectual growth and career path. As such, advisors have the greatest opportunity and perhaps, obligation, to assist their students by becoming their mentors. The Council of Graduate Schools (1995) cites Morris Zelditch's useful summary of a mentor's multiple roles:

Mentors are advisors, people with career experience willing to share their knowledge; supporters, people who give emotional and moral encouragement; tutors, people who give specific feedback on one's performance; masters, in the sense of employers to whom one is apprenticed; sponsors, sources of information about and aid in obtaining opportunities; models, of identity, of the kind of person one should be to be an academic. [Adviser, Teacher, Role Model, Friend: On being a mentor to students in sciences and engineering, http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/mentor/

There is a fundamental difference between mentoring and advising; mentoring implies the presence of not only a professional relationship between professor and student, but a personal one as well.

Ideally, a mentor would be attuned to the particular needs of the student and would vary the degree and type of attention, help, advice, criticism, and encouragement that s/he provides as deemed appropriate. In general, an effective mentoring relationship is characterized by mutual respect, trust, understanding, and empathy. Good mentors are able to share life experiences and wisdom, as well as technical expertise. They are good listeners, good observers, and good problem-solvers. They make an effort to know, accept, and respect the goals and interests of the student. In the end, they establish an environment in which the student's accomplishment is limited only by the extent of his/her talent. Fostering mentoring relationships can go a long way toward improving the oft-lamented problems in graduate education.

Although there are faculty members who see their roles as advisors and mentors as being inseparable from one another, many faculty members do not take the extra step to move from a more 'mechanical' advising system to a personalized mentoring relationship. We suggest that the GSAS community begin to look upon advising as more than just a mundane 'part of the job' and include mentoring as an integral part of this process. In this scenario the professor plays a vital role in assisting the student to become an active participant in his/her field while also cultivating a potentially successful professional aspect. Promoting this ideological shift within faculty circles would simultaneously clarify understandings of the status of graduate students as important members of the academic and University communities, while also improving the overall quality of graduate education.

A. Department Level Advising

1. It is the responsibility of the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) to provide incoming students a concise and early overview of each stage of the degree process, from advising about coursework requirements to General examinations.

2. After coursework has been completed, the DGS should discuss with students the process of selecting a thesis advisor or committee. The DGS should point out the importance of choosing an advisor not only on the basis of the student's interests but on how well the advisor and student work together. In addition, the DGS should discuss alternative advising structures, such as thesis committees, which allow graduate students to work with scholars other than their advisor. The DGS should utilize continuing graduate students as resources for new students engaged in the process of selecting a thesis advisor.

3. Thesis advisors, thesis committee members and DGS's have the ultimate responsibility to ensure that students receive adequate advising. Departments and programs must provide confidential mechanisms to address issues regarding advising at every stage in the Ph.D. program. Incoming graduate students should be made aware of such mechanisms early in their programs.

B. The role of the advisor in the context of mentoring

1. Mentoring is essential to the advisor-advisee relationship. This relationship must be based on a common goal: to advance the educational and personal growth of the student. The faculty member should provide advice, encouragement and constructive criticism of the student's research and work, and take seriously his/her role in fostering the intellectual development of graduate students under his/her care.

2. Regular contact is essential to the advisor-advisee/mentoring relationship. Though the amount and frequency of contact will vary in each case, both parties should feel free to initiate contact at any stage. Faculty and student should establish a pattern of contact through regular, formal meetings at their mutual convenience and regular communication. Faculty should, through regular and frequent informal contact, try to keep all students on their "radar screen" with an eye to anticipating problems before they become serious.

3. When the advisor is not in residence, student and advisor should agree to establish regular means of communication while the faculty member is absent from the University.

4. Feedback in the form of detailed comments on drafts of written or presented work should be timely and well considered.

5. Like their faculty colleagues, graduate students tend to have many obligations in the University community that extend beyond their immediate research and work. Mentors and advisors should recognize the importance of such activities (proctor/tutorships, participation in University committees, involvement in student organizations, athletic activities etc.) not only for professional development but also for the mental and physical well-being of their students.

6. The Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences should support all faculty in their roles as mentors and advisors through the availability of information and programs on mentoring and advising students and managing research groups. To highlight the importance of mentoring and advising and to recognize those faculty members who excel as mentors, the First Annual GSC Excellence in Mentoring Awards will be announced in April 1998. These awards will recognize four faculty members from four divisions (Humanities, Social Sciences, Physical Sciences and Life Sciences) who exemplify the qualities of a good mentor.

C. Student Progress: Evaluation and Planning

1. Departments must have in place clearly communicated procedures for reviewing student progress on a regular (preferably annual) basis. Such reviews should include the student's own assessment of his/her progress made during the period under review as well as careful planning for the following review period. Student's self assessments should involve consultation between the student and his/her thesis advisor and committee.

2. Evaluations of student progress and any decisions made by departments based on such evaluations must be communicated in writing to the student in a timely fashion.

3. In cases wherein an evaluation results in an administrative decision (i.e. academic probation), mechanisms must be in place through which students may appeal the outcome of formal evaluations that they believe do not accurately reflect their progress or are the result of unreasonable expectations. Mechanisms for such appeals should be established in all departments and must be communicated to all students.

4. Students should have the opportunity to correct deficiencies in their performance once informed of them. Any intent to terminate a student's degree candidacy for academic reasons must be preceded by at least one semester's advance notice, specifying reasonable goals which must be achieved to avoid termination of candidacy. Decisions on the termination of degree candidacy for academic reasons are made by the department, upon consultation with the Dean of the Graduate School, and can be appealed by a student to the Administrative Board of the Graduate School.

D. Advising on Professional Development

1. When possible, faculty should help to create awareness of the many different career options available to graduate students, including non-academic careers.

2. Faculty should be aware that many students may wish to follow a non-academic career path, and they should aid and support those students to the best of their abilities. Those students who express interest in non-academic careers should not experience loss of concern or interest by the advisor or department.

3. Departments should be proactively involved in the professional training of graduate students. Programs should be developed for early year students which help them become involved in professional associations, assist them in the preparation of conference presentations and papers, and provide them with funding for said participation. For example, the Department of Celtic Languages and Literatures sponsors a student-run colloquium each spring. [others to be included]

4. Graduate student participation in department administration provides useful professional preparation for graduate students. Departments should establish mechanisms which involve graduate students in the development of the intellectual life of their departments. As a group which is crucial to the continued intellectual vitality of departments and programs, graduate students should have input into matters of program structure, academic direction, etc. in their departments. [This already happens in some departments in the Faculty. In most instances, graduate students are fully engaged in discussion of program structure, faculty recruitment, etc. In departments that have graduate student representatives, representatives do not attend meetings (or portions of meetings) which deal with review of student progress, disciplinary actions or admissions.]

5. Faculty should recognize the importance of community involvement in the professional development of graduate students. Involvement in community-related activities should not be looked upon as detrimental to the graduate student's work and career.

II. Program Structure

A. Advising and Program Structure

1. An expected normal time to degree must be specified for each graduate student program, and the program requirements should be such that they can be reasonably completed within that time. Realistic and reasonable calculations should take into account time allotted for coursework, teaching, preparation for general exams and other (e.g., additional research languages) requirements, preparation of publications and/or conference presentations, preparation of the thesis prospectus and the thesis itself.

2. Faculty expectations of work by graduate students should also take into account pregnancy, the need to care for small children, health problems and/or personal / family difficulties. Students may take leaves of absence for such reasons after informing their advisor and department and with the approval of the Dean's Office, and these leaves should not be counted towards the student's time to degree. [Some mention in Handbook about leaves of absence, but this would change the rules.]

III. Recommendations for Implementation

1. Faculty Discussion: We hope that this document will be the first step toward a proactive discussion of graduate education between faculty members, administrators and students. The Dean of the Graduate School should take the lead on creating this atmosphere by opening discussion of this at a meeting of the Faculty and by taking whatever other steps would formalize this discussion.

2. DGS Meetings: The GSAS deans should initiate discussion of the ideas presented in this document during their meeting with Department Chairs and Directors of Graduate Studies.

3. Departmental Discussions: The Assistant Dean of Student Affairs should take the lead to facilitate department level discussions by asking departments to hold a meeting at which these issues will be discussed and which the Assistant Dean will attend.