Program Details

Mentoring Program Coordinators: Aaron Kupchik and Alvi Ali

The DPCC Mentoring Program is designed to support early scholars and professionals within the Division by fostering meaningful relationships that promote professional development, inclusion, and long-term professional success. The program connects mentors and mentees across different career stages to facilitate guidance on navigating academic and professional goals, developing research agendas, expanding professional networks, and addressing specific challenges faced by scholars within the DPCC. It is open to scholars in academic, as well as alternative (i.e., non-academic) positions or career tracks.

It is our goal that this program will support the professional development of all DPCC members, contribute to a more inclusive network within the ASC, promote long-term mentoring relationships, facilitate research collaboration and productivity, and help build community within the DPCC.

Who Can Participate?

Academics at the rank of Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor, as well as senior researchers or professionals in non-academic positions, are all eligible and encouraged to become mentors.

Graduate students, Assistant Professors, and DPCC members who recently completed their doctorate and work in an alternative career track are all eligible and encouraged to seek mentorship in the program.

Enrollment Process

The DPCC Mentorship Program Coordinator will send out a request for participation annually. Based on responses, they will match mentors and mentees as best as they are able, based on shared interests, career goals, and professional backgrounds. Individuals may contact the Mentorship Program Coordinator after the enrollment period to participate, and the Coordinator will attempt to match them with a mentor/mentee if one is available.

Program Expectations

Mentors should make the initial contact with mentees to set up a first meeting, though responsibility for staying in touch and scheduling subsequent meetings is shared by mentors and mentees. We expect mentors and mentees to meet at least twice per semester, typically through virtual meetings, though we encourage more frequent meetings depending on both members’ needs, goals, and schedules. If both are attending the ASC or another conference, we encourage both to meet in person at the conference. Meetings should focus on building an effective professional relationship, supporting the mentee’s career progression, and addressing the mentee’s concerns or questions. Mentor/mentee matches will remain in place for subsequent years unless either one requests reassignment by contacting the Mentoring Program Coordinator.

For suggestions of topics to discuss and appropriate mentoring strategies, click here.

The Mentoring Program Coordinator will distribute a survey annually to assess how well the program meets its stated goals and to inform the matching process, as well as the guidance given to mentors and mentees.