The Mentoring branch of the program is designed to provide a connection between non-declared students early in their career at Uva who are interested in pursuing a path in psychology with graduate students, postdocs, or faculty members in a psychology research lab. This would be an informal, low-key partnership designed to last for the first year that a student is at UVa, and possibly continue based on interest or each student’s needs. While the psychology department has many resources available for students in the major, and that are already interested, a crucial precursor for students is to discover if they want to pursue a career/education in psychology at all. Therefore, it is imperative that students are able to connect with knowledgeable mentors in an informal sense to develop close relationships and learn more about the major.
Objectives
- To establish informal, personal connections between undergraduates that are undeclared and knowledgeable graduate students, postdocs, and faculty members to help undergraduates with deciding whether to pursue a path in psychology
- To facilitate the process of pairing up mentors and mentees and checking in throughout the year
- To provide educational resources on how to be a mentor and what information to give students
Components
- Committee facilitators
- Mentors (graduate students, postdoc, faculty members)
- First year undergraduate mentees
Summary from previous year
We first launched our mentoring program in ‘20-’21, when the COVID-19 pandemic made it especially difficult for first year students to connect with older mentors. We started on a smaller scale, with 10 pairs of mentor/mentees. We asked that the mentors try to keep in touch with their mentees 1-2x a month, asking them about the overall functioning in their UVa transition, answering any questions they have and connecting them to any resources they need.
From the feedback, all of the mentees who responded said that they felt fully supported by their mentor (5/5), this mentorship contributed to their sense of belonging at UVa (4.75/5) and that the mentorship provided them with opportunities that they might not have experienced otherwise. Two said that they are now interested in pursuing the neuroscience major. Additionally, all of the respondents said that the mentorship relationship was personally rewarding and that they would recommend this program to incoming students.
Budget
- Summary luncheon at end of the semester, mentees and mentors all attend
- $500 stipend that undergraduates can apply for