Best Practices and Mentoring in Doctoral Education:
Program, Faculty, and Student Responsibilities

Overview | General Responsibilities | Coursework/Qualifiying Exams | Dissertation/Research | Professional Development | If Things Do Not Work Out | Call For Assistance

OVERVIEW

The Ph.D. is a research degree that prepares students to become independent scholars. It signifies that the holder is capable of original and ethical research in a particular field and of making a significant contribution to that field. To attain this degree, graduate students, guided by their own interests and by the expertise of their graduate faculty, develop an individual plan of research within the context of a broad general structure. The goal of the graduate program is to assist students in becoming scholars who are skilled in the research practices of the discipline and aware of its ethical and professional standards.

Although the specifics may vary by discipline, the three major stages that must be completed satisfactorily for the doctoral degree are: classes and seminars, qualifying examination (oral or written, or both), and dissertation. At each of these stages, the student, the individual faculty member, and the graduate program (that is, the entire faculty under the leadership of the program director) share joint responsibility; without a cooperative effort, a student's academic and professional development may be hindered and the integrity of the program jeopardized. Although the whole process is broadly directed by the Graduate School-New Brunswick, successful mentoring is best achieved using a tripartite model, where students, individual faculty members, and the graduate program all cooperate to ensure that students stay involved and active in the program, making good progress.

Within this tripartite model, a more traditional mentor/student relationship should develop. Historically, in both the U.S. and European university systems, a close and sustained relationship between an experienced faculty mentor and an advanced graduate student has been a central, respected component of graduate education, a tested and effective method for preparing the next generation of scholars and researchers. Students benefit from the knowledge, experience, and counsel of an established scholar or researcher who facilitates the apprentice scholar's socialization to a particular discipline. Mentors act, variously, as advisors, guides, role models, supervisors, and collaborators, with the goal of enabling graduate students to make the transition from student to independent investigator. This one-to-one relationship can be a rich experience for both parties.

This brochure is meant to provide an outline of the interconnected responsibilities of each of the parties at each stage of the graduate program; clearly, every situation is different, and this brochure is not intended to be prescriptive or exhaustive. While it has been written with the Ph.D. in mind, many of the practices may be applicable to professional doctoral degree programs as well.

GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES

PROGRAM

• Make program guidelines and procedures for completion of degree requirements explicit and available to all.
• Provide annual assessments of all full-time students in the program; set up mechanisms to provide feedback to students on their progress. Maintain records on attrition and time to degree.
• Supervise advising so that all students have an advisor who is aware of program requirements and available on campus.
• Recognize that students are apprentice scholars, teachers, and researchers, and support them accordingly; inform students of opportunities for research and professional development.
• Develop a community within the program and create opportunities for faculty and students to come together to discuss common issues - academic, ethical, pedagogical, professional-and to present their work to colleagues.
• Treat all students fairly. Work to make standards of funding equitable and all students aware of funding opportunities. Seek opportunities for external funding (e.g., training grants).

FACULTY MEMBERS:

• Know program and university guidelines and requirements.
• Be available for consultation. Initiate contact with students. Attend program colloquia and social events.
• Seek support for students through research grants; advise students on seeking and writing proposals for external fellowships and research support.
• Respect students' ideas and abilities. Encourage students to become intellectually independent.
• Transmit the skills, norms, and ethical values of the discipline to students; recognize that faculty members are often role models for graduate students.
• Assume responsibility and provide opportunities for students' intellectual and professional development.
• Avoid entering into relationships with students (financial, romantic, etc.) that might interfere with professional judgment or responsibilities.

STUDENT:

• Be committed to a high standard of excellence and integrity in all graduate work; follow the guidelines in the Graduate School-New Brunswick's Academic Integrity brochure.
• Know program guidelines and expectations.
• Learn independently when possible; seek guidance when needed. Respect faculty members' time.
• Learn to manage time so that all responsibilities are met.
• Seek funding to supplement institutional and faculty sources of support.
• Avoid entering into relationships with faculty (financial, romantic, etc.) that might interfere with professional judgment or responsibilities.
• Participate in program colloquia and other events.

COURSEWORK/QUALIFYING EXAMINATIONS

PROGRAM:

• Publish accurate course descriptions.
• Provide the courses needed to fulfill University and program requirements so that students are able to complete coursework in a timely manner.
• Work with the department chair and deans to manage faculty leaves so that adequate course offerings are available.
• Provide broad general guidelines for exam preparation.
• Inform students early in their graduate careers of t he number and kinds of examinations they will be expected to take.
• Ensure that the examinations are fair from year to year, both in developing and in grading them.
• Set up procedures so that examinations are graded and returned in an efficient manner.

FACULTY MEMBERS:

• Know the sequence of courses that students must take to progress through the program satisfactorily.
• Recognize that graduate students often look to facility members as role models for their own teaching.
• Conduct classes in a way that encourages students to learn creatively, independently, and rigorously.
• Indicate clearly how all work will be evaluated.
• Return all graded work promptly.
• Accept responsibility for the development of challenging but fair examinations.
• Work closely with students to develop appropriate methods to prepare for examinations and help them draw up realistic reading lists as necessary.

STUDENT:

• Work closely with a faculty advisor to plan a program of coursework that provides the necessary grounding in the field to allow timely progression to the dissertation stage.
• Attend classes regularly and work industriously.
• Complete all assignments honestly and in a timely fashion, working independently when expected or in teams when appropriate.
• Maintain acceptable progress toward the degree by scheduling all qualifying examinations, written and oral l as soon as possible.
• Block out the necessary amount of time for sufficient preparation for examinations and stick to tile schedule.
• Work with peer study groups to prepare for examinations or with individual faculty members to plan it course of reading as appropriate.

DISSERTATION/RESEARCH

PROGRAM:

• Help students accepted into candidacy to find a faculty member to chair their dissertation committee.
• See that committee members and students work together amicably so that students may complete degrees expeditiously.
• Treat students its apprentice researchers and teachers, whose efforts require guidance and supervision by qualified faculty.

FACULTY MEMBERS:

• Help students create appropriate dissertation committees.
• Work with tile student to develop a meaningful topic on a problem that the student has participated in defining.
• Provide students with a full range of experiences to ensure that they will he prepared to succeed professionally.
• Teach students tile research methodologies and the library, laboratory, or field skills that will enable them to become capable, independent scholars.
• Help students to understand the ethical implications of the research in which they are engaged, and provide them with the appropriate professional, federal, and university guidelines that govern its conduct.
• Discuss collaborative issues such as ownership and sharing of data and laboratory notebooks, attribution of contributions to the research, and policies on patents and copyrights. Acknowledge students' contributions fairly.
• View Students as apprentice researchers, not as technicians.
• Recognize that providing fellowship or assistantship support to students does not entitle faculty members to ask students to perform personal or other non-academic services.
• Read and comment on submitted proposals and chapters promptly.

STUDENT:

• Work independently when possible, with a team when appropriate, and seek assistance when necessary.
• Conduct research honestly and report it accurately. Acknowledge the contributions of others. Maintain accurate laboratory databooks.
• Know and adhere to Nil 1, NSF, or other relevant professional research guidelines.
• Adhere to established timetables and work to complete the degree in a timely manner. Keep advisor and program director informed of results and progress towards the degree.
• Respect the advisor's desire for confidentiality concerning research that has not yet been reported.
• Acknowledge that faculty members have a responsibility to maintain high scholarly standards; be open to suggestions for revising or rethinking research issues.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

PROGRAM:

• Keep records on placement of graduate students and continue to track students after graduation.
• Provide opportunities for students to prepare for job search, i.e. mock interviews, workshops on preparing a c.v., etc.
• Structure funding so that all qualified students who wish to teach have an opportunity to do so.
• Inform students of the wide range of non-academic professional opportunities and how to prepare for such careers.

FACULTY MEMBERS:

• Help students find positions when they complete their degrees.
• Maintain a positive attitude towards the broad range of career opportunities available for students and provide advice on how to prepare for such careers.
• Facilitate students' networking at conferences.
• When providing references for students, do so promptly and thoughtfully.
• Advise students on preparation of proposals for professional conferences and manuscripts for publication.
• Help students develop the necessary writing, analytic, and statistical skills to enable them to publish their research results.

STUDENT:

• Participate actively in academic conferences.
• Prepare and submit articles for publication.
• Give faculty members adequate advance notice when requesting letters of recommendation.
• Take advantage of the workshops and services offered to assist in the job search.
• Maintain a teaching portfolio to document teaching activities.
• Join appropriate professional organizations.
• Be aware of and prepare for a broad range of career opportunities, both academic and non-academic.

IF THINGS DO NOT WORK OUT

When all members of a program take responsibility for the success of graduate students, minor difficulties should not grow into major ones. When problems do arise, the best hope for a solution lies in the honest and open discussion of the issue.

The first task is to discover where the difficulties lie.

• Is either party making unreasonable demands?
• Is someone neglecting his or her obligations?
• What reasonable solutions are there for the situation?

Whenever appropriate and possible, a meeting among the concerned parties should be arranged to try to resolve the difficulties. This may entail a meeting between a student and a faculty member, a student and his or her thesis committee, a student and the departmental safety officer, a program director and a faculty member, etc. Sometimes it may be most effective for all members of the graduate program to get together to air problems and try to come up with a solution.

Those problems that are not resolvable within the program should be brought to the attention of the Office of the Dean, Graduate School-New Brunswick (932-7747). For students who are not in Ph.D. programs, the dean of the faculty unit that grants the professional degree should be contacted. Discussing the situation with a dean may help to identify the most promising options for solving the problem. When appropriate, the dean can also take action to help resolve the problem. Inquiries will be treated in a confidential manner, unless a formal complaint is filed.

CALL FOR ASSISTANCE

Dean's Offices

Graduate School-New Brunswick
25 Bishop Place, CAC (732) 932-7747

Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology
Psychology Bldg., Busch (732-445-2000)

Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
33 Livingston Avenue, Civic Square Bldg., CAC
(732) 932-2993, ext. 750

School of Communication Information and Library Studies
4 Huntington Street, CAC (732) 932-7551

Cook College
Martin Hall, CC (732) 932-9465, ext.512

Graduate School of Education
10 Seminary Place, CAC (732) 932-7496, ext. 104

School of Engineering
Engineering Building, Busch (732) 445-2224

School of Management and Labor Relations
Janice H. Levin Building, Livingston Campus
(732) 445-5993

Mason Gross School of the Arts
33 Livingston Avenue, Civic Square Building, CAC
(732) 932-9360, ext. 508

College of Pharmacy
William Levine Pharmacy Building, Busch Campus
(732) 445-2667

School of Social Work
536 George Street, CAC (732) 932-7253

Harassment and Safety Offices

If you believe that you may be the victim of harassment, are accused of harassment, or have questions about harassment, contact the Office of Employment Equity to obtain a copy of the University's policies and procedures: (732) 932-3020 ext. 4030.

If you have concerns about the safety of the laboratory in which you are working, contact Rutgers Environmental Health and Safety Office (REHS): (732) 445-2550.

Should you believe that your personal safety is in jeopardy, immediately contact the Rutgers University Police Department: (732) 932-7211.

September, 1999