A mentor is like a coach, says political science professor Karen Remmer. "You offer guidance and encouragement, promote enthusiasm and engagement, and help your students build to their strengths and intellectual interests."
That philosophy has guided Remmer in advising numerous colleagues and is part of why graduate students and faculty members recommended her for the Graduate School's Dean's Award for Excellence in Mentoring.
She was one of three faculty members and two students who were honored Tuesday night. Joining her at the ceremony were faculty colleagues John French, professor of Latin American history, and Grant Wacker, professor of Christian history. The graduate student honorees were Alexis T. Franzese of psychology & neuroscience and sociology and Joseph O. Sexton of ecology.
Remmer said she was honored by the recognition and noted that mentoring is usually a team effort. "Success in this endeavor depends heavily on the commitment and talent of one's students as well as the support and dedication of professional colleagues," Remmer said.
French said a good mentoring relationship is built on trust. "For younger faculty, it's important not to give into the anxiety linked to your status since this can lead to either an over-assertion of one's position or a unhelpful ceding of authority, both of which are equally problematic," he said. "And there is a bottom line for both sides in this relationship. To take the credit and avoid the blame is to violate the reciprocity that stands at the core of trust. It matters at least as much what you don't do, as much if not more than what you do.
"The aim is to gain the trust that allows you the right to offer substantive assessments and guidance."
Franzese, who last week was honored by Working Mother magazine for helping to develop a parental leave program for graduate students, said she defined mentoring as "connecting with people and helping them to develop into the scholars that they desire to become."
"I feel that graduate students are well situated to become excellent mentors because we are mentees," Franzese said. "Along the path of our graduate study we see models to emulate and models we might wish to deviate from. We can integrate positive aspects of our own experiences into our mentoring style. We can experiment and see how different styles work in the mentoring relationship."
Sexton, the ecology graduate student, said curiosity and availability are the most important elements for a good mentor. "I believe that each student should be dealt individually as there is a big difference between teaching and mentoring," Sexton said. "Most important thing is to learn and understand the student with respect to where they are and where they want to be."