Student Mentor Program

The Student Mentor Program is designed to set each incoming PhD and MS student up with a more experienced student. The program has four main goals:

A persistent mentor-mentee relationship should positively impact the percentage of students passing the departmental exam. In the long term, a continued mentor-mentee relationship should positively impact the percentage of students advancing to candidacy, earning their degree, and the average time it takes to accomplish these milestones.
To reinforce the student safety net: Training and workshops will incorporate department and campus professionals to expand the safety net and help the Department become more proactive and less reactive in addressing student challenges and concerns. While we hope that students will have a strong relationship with their mentor, we hope to give students access to a much larger and interconnected network of mentors.
To create a network of engaged students: A formalized peer mentorship program can help keep students engaged and connected to Scripps community and to the University. This helps our first-year students build connections outside of their lab and creates a strong network of student leaders.
To developing mentoring skills: Training our mentors and giving them practical experience is useful not only for their personal growth and development as future principal investigators and research leaders but also fosters a culture of mentorship throughout the Department.

Program format

First-year mentees will be matched with mentors prior to the beginning of the fall quarter and should expect to hear from them before arriving at Scripps unless they are starting very early. In addition to informal meetings, mentors and their mentees will be invited to social events and special seminars during the academic year. After the end of the spring quarter and the departmental exams, mentors and mentees will have the opportunity to reflect on their experiences and contribute to the mentee's Individual Development Plan. Mentors will need to attend an initial training session during the summer as well as a supplemental training once per quarter. Mentors will be able to draw from a small fund for incidental expenses (e.g. coffee, lunch) to facilitate meetings with their mentees.