Ira Eastman Professor of Biological Sciences Roger Sloboda
and Assistant Professor of Chemistry F. Jon Kull
“Anyone who has ever
graduated from a college, anyone who has ever been able to sustain a good
work,
has had at least one person and often many who have believed in him or her. We
just don't get to be competent
human beings without a lot of different investments from others,” said Fred
Rogers when he addressed Dartmouth
Commencement in 2002. Mr. Rogers, known of course to children and parents
as the cardigan and sneakers wearing
creator of Mister Rogers Neighborhood, gave many audiences the same
advice. To Mr. Rogers, as individuals
became who we are with the help and guidance of special people who helped to
mold us as students, workers,
and as people.
In graduate education, commonly the people who
influence and guide others inside and out of the classroom, are
the academic advisors and co-workers who help mold Dartmouth students into
budding academics, researchers, and
writers. The process of mentoring, of guiding and advising students, is
often a process that is learned through the act
of working closely with different people and creating a functioning
relationship based upon trust. To Dartmouth
graduate students, the relationships they are building with their faculty
mentors may be the most important relationships
of their careers.
This is precisely why the Graduate Studies office
hosted three sessions specifically on the topic of mentoring for
students. Organized and led by by Professors Rodger Sloboda
(Biology) and Jon Kull (Chemistry), thirty graduate
students from the sciences had the opportunity to discuss the details of
working closely in a lab environment. Sloboda
and Kull were named Education Fellows in the Life Sciences by the National
Academies and attended a summer session
in 2005, which was aimed at presenting and facilitating group discussions on a
variety of career skill sessions – sessions
like the ones on mentoring.
“This session isn’t just for when you get a faculty
position down the line,” said Sloboda to graduate students over
sandwiches and soup, “this is for right now too - with your colleagues and
fellow students. We are trying to eliminate
the error part in trial and error.” Sloboda stressed the importance of sharing
ideas between people who have teaching
experience with graduate students who will soon be mentors themselves or who
might be currently mentoring an
undergraduate student.
Students over the course of four hour-and-a-half
discussions talked not only about general mentoring techniques, but
also about specific hurdles faced in their own careers. “The group size was
just right for interaction and comments. I
found the banter back and forth between all members very informative,” said one
student about the session. Others were
happy just to have a chance to discuss these issues together, “it was nice to
hear how others interact with their advisors.”
Truly being together and discussing these issues over lunch with two professors
who had real experience and training to
facilitate these discussions, was very useful to future and current mentors.
When our graduate students leave Dartmouth
to careers across the country and world, no doubt many of them will remember
the advice and guidance of teachers who
took an interest in them not only as researchers, but also, as people.
The mentoring sessions were made possible by
Graduate Studies, the Associate Dean of Faculty, and the Dean of
Dartmouth Medical School, as well as DCAL who provided a location for these
discussions.
~ Ian A. Isherwood
