Graduate Student Mentoring

Faculty Mentors

Each incoming graduate student will be assigned a faculty mentor via email to guide them through class scheduling, research, and general questions or concerns about academic life.
This mentorship will last for the student's first academic year, after which they can choose a new faculty mentor or stay with their current mentor.
For questions or concerns about faculty mentors, please contact the Coordinator of Graduate Programs, Robert Burgard (rburgard@umd.edu).

Graduate Student Mentors

Incoming graduate students will also be assigned a current graduate student mentor.
At the start of each semester, GEO (Graduate English Organization) will send out an email with a form to each incoming graduate student to assess which current student would be the best match.
For questions or concerns about graduate student mentors, please contact the current GEO President, Natalie McGartland (ncm@umd.edu).

Instructional Mentors

Each graduate student instructor will receive a pedagogical mentor. The process varies depending on which course the student is teaching

New AWP Instructor Mentoring Guide for Graduate Faculty

Throughout your first semester teaching ENGL101 at Maryland, you will be supported in two main ways by the Academic Writing Program: (1) through weekly meetings for new instructors (New Instructor Meetings or NIMs), and (2) through your collaboration with your individual mentor. Your individual mentor will review your responses to one assignment and the grades you assign, observe one of your classes, and meet with you to discuss the feedback you received from your students through their mid-semester evaluations. AWP graduate administrative fellows will run the NIMs this academic year and serve as individual mentors.

Weekly New Instructor Meetings (NIMs)

The weekly NIMs introduce you to the components of the curriculum, especially the assignments and the core rhetorical concepts, and the goal of these meetings is to help to keep you a few steps ahead of your students in learning the material. They also provide a time for answering your questions and helping you to problem-solve situations that arise in the classroom. Attendance at your assigned meeting is mandatory. Your NIM facilitator will reach out before the semester starts to find a time for these meetings that works for the whole group. Please note that your NIM facilitator may differ from your individual mentor.

Your Work with Your Individual Mentor

Here’s how your collaboration with your individual mentor will unfold:

Before the semester starts: Your mentor will reach out by email to introduce themselves and set-up a time to meet to discuss the mentoring process at the start of the semester.
By the end of Week 2 of the semester: Email your final syllabus & policies to your mentor and Scott Eklund; let us know how your first week is going; set a date for your first observation.
When your students turn in Assignment #1: Summary: You will comment on and grade five student summaries as soon as possible in whatever modality works best for you and turn in these five papers to your mentor. Your mentor will review and get them back to you with feedback on your student-facing responses and how your grading reflects the AWP grading norms. Then, with your mentor’s comments in mind, you may revise your original comments/grades, finish grading the rest, and return the summaries to your students. This process is called grade norming and it is important, as it ensures that your grading aligns with the grading criteria for the program. The process takes about two weeks, so don't yet make promises to your students about when they'll get their assignments back. Your mentor will have the first five summaries back to you in time for you to give your students feedback in advance of their next assignment.
Two days before your first observation: Send a complete lesson plan to your mentor that you will be using on the day of your first observation and ensure that all necessary modules, pages, assignments, and files are uploaded and published. Here’s a moment too when you might discuss with your mentor how the class is going and identify any concerns that are emerging in class.
By the end of Week 7: Have your mentor observe a class day of your choice. After the observation, set a time for a meeting to reflect on the individual class and the course writ large. You also might set the date for your second observation if you and your mentor decide that would be helpful. Your mentor will also send you feedback based on this observation
As you distribute your mid-semester evaluations: make an appointment with your mentor to discuss the feedback you’ve received from the evaluations and how you will respond to this feedback.
By the end of the semester: Your mentor will submit an observation report for your teaching file. You are encouraged to discuss this feedback with your mentor.

Observation Days

Think of the observation as a chance to plan a class really thoroughly, to develop a lesson plan you have been musing about, or to show off a part of the class you are most excited about, such as a reading, exercise, short assignment, or rhetorical concept that is of greatest interest to you. Also think about the observation as a chance to demonstrate your teaching skills, so choose a day that offers a balance of class activities (e.g. not a day focused only on peer review or where students are providing feedback for each others’ presentations). Finally, think of the observation as a chance to reflect openly on your teaching strengths and receive feedback and ideas to help with your weaknesses. The observation days are a chance to think about what you can do differently.

You are also welcome to email Scott Eklund, AWP Administrative Coordinator or Jess Enoch, AWP Director at any time with questions, successes, and reflections, but these formal check-in points will provide some support for you in your first term as a UMD teacher.