Mentoring Toolkit
The goals of these documents are ultimately to support the mentee to succeed in their program, and to help the mentee feel supported as they make progress toward their academic and professional goals.
Individual Development Plans (IDP)
The Individual Development Plan (IDP) is a tool for providing structure to the mentor-mentee relationship. Developing IDPs requires the mentee to carefully consider both short and long-term career plans. It enables mentors to provide tailored and responsive mentorship that aligns with the mentees’ career plans. The IDP should be a joint effort to map out detailed research and career development plans, establish timelines, and establish mutual expectations. Importantly, the IDP should be a dynamic document that grounds and guides the mentees as they progress and adapts with them as theoretical plans change or become actual realities.
Templates:
- MyIDP: is a free, Web-based career-planning tool that was created to help graduate students and postdocs in the sciences define and pursue their career goals.
- ImaginePhD: a free online career exploration and planning tool for PhD students and postdoctoral scholars in the humanities and social sciences.
Mentoring Compact
A Mentoring Compact is a written agreement that provides structure for mentors to outline expectations from, and commitments to, mentees, and vice versa. The document provides a set of topics to discuss and requires the mentor-mentee to work together to establish guidelines and expectations for their mentoring relationship.
Template:
UNM Mentorship Agreement Form This template provides an adaptable structure and set of topics to discuss when setting up a mentoring relationship.
Other examples:
Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER) at UW-Madison has compiled a library of mentor/mentee agreements, compacts, and worksheets for a variety of career stages.
Mentoring Network
Students should monitor and be aware of their own mentoring needs and how these change through their graduate student tenure. Recognize that one faculty member will not be able to satisfy all of a student’s mentoring needs, and they should seek assistance from multiple individuals/organizations.
A mentoring map is a tool used to map your current mentoring network, identify your unmet needs, and plan how to expand your existing network to meet your current needs.
Template: UNM Mentoring Network Map
Other Examples: The NCFDD Mentor Map
Additional Resources
Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER)
Additional mentor and mentee training curricula including
- A menu of training services along with instructions on how to request training
- Curricula for all career stages, undergraduate through senior faculty
- Guidance and considerations on implementation
- Customized evaluation services through the CIMER Assessment Platform (CAP)
