Graduate Student Advising and Mentoring

Graduate Student Advising and Mentoring Refinement and Implementation Committee (RIC) 4

Committee Members

Tim Jamison and Paula Hammond (Co-Chairs); Rick Danheiser, Martha Gray, and Ian Waitz

Abstract

An Ad Hoc Committee on Graduate Advising and Mentoring has been appointed with a charge to develop a strategic plan for graduate advising and mentoring at MIT. Its report will be submitted to the Chancellor, Provost, Chair of the Faculty, Vice Chancellor, Committee on Graduate Programs, the Faculty Policy Committee, and the Co-Chairs of Task Force 2021 by December 31, 2021.

Committee Charge

Refinement and Implementation Committee (RIC 4) was charged “to appoint an Ad Hoc Committee on a Strategic Plan for Graduate Advising and Mentoring, developing the charge for this committee, and appointing the membership” (see Appendix).

Committee Process

Several members of this RIC began framing the approach to develop a strategic plan for graduate advising and mentoring in late 2019 and early 2020. While the pandemic temporarily interrupted these discussions, the emergence of Task Force 2021 led to valuable community input and innovative ideas that helped shape the eventual committee charge (see Appendix). The members of this RIC met once to discuss the charge and to appoint co-chairs, Paula Hammond and Tim Jamison.

Activities and Plans of the Ad Hoc Committee on Graduate Advising and Mentoring

The co-chairs solicited recommendations for committee members from faculty, staff, and graduate students at MIT, including the members of this RIC, the Office of Graduate Education, and the Graduate Student Council. The membership of the Ad Hoc Committee is included in the committee charge (see Appendix), and the first meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee occurred on June 2, 2021 (agenda included in Appendix).

Current activities of the Ad Hoc Committee include development of a community engagement and communications plan, which will be critical for success. As examples, the co-chairs will welcome opportunities to visit with the Faculty Policy Committee, the Committee on the Graduate Program, and the leadership of the Graduate Student Council. Highly desirable, too, would be presentations and discussions at larger fora, such as an Institute Faculty Meeting in the fall semester of 2021. The above do not represent a complete list of engagements under consideration, and we welcome suggestions for other groups, committees, offices, and councils to visit.

Further updates will be provided periodically to the members of this RIC, to the Chancellor, Provost, Chair of the Faculty, Vice Chancellor, and the Co-Chairs of Task Force 2021.