The Mentoring Institute at UNM is pleased to announce its 16th Annual Mentoring Conference, Mentoring Networks: The Impact of Developmental Relationships on the Future of Work.

We invite faculty, staff, and students of higher education, researchers, K-12 educators, community leaders, administrators, non-profit partners, government agencies, and other professionals to participate in this five-day event, which will be held from Monday, October 23rd, 2023, through Friday, October 27th, 2023 at the UNM Student Union Building in Albuquerque, NM.

Together, we will develop dynamic conversations and networking opportunities through hands-on workshops, individual/panel presentations, and plenary sessions. We aim to foster engagement among scholars and professionals in the fields of mentoring, coaching, and leadership. 

Important Dates

This year's conference theme is Mentoring Networks: The Impact of Developmental Relationships on the Future of Work. As the workplace continues to evolve, the way we work, lead, and engage with employees is undergoing a transformation. The Future of Work is not just about technology and automation; it's about building a workplace that is human-centered, collaborative, and adaptable. At the heart of this transformation are developmental relationships - the powerful connections between mentors and mentees, coaches and clients, and leaders and team members that foster growth, learning, and professional development.

This conference aims to explore how organizations can create and nurture these types of relationships to support their employees, enhance their performance, and build a culture of continuous improvement. We invite all participants to help us explore how developmental relationships can impact the future of work in different fields and industries, and to share best practices and insights on how to foster these types of relationships in educational settings and the workplace.

Therefore, we are particularly interested in presentations that demonstrate how mentoring, and other developmental relationships, foster personal and professional growth. We encourage discussion about work that draws from the evidence of solid evaluation to promote further research, and from research to enhance practice. Theoretical and practical case studies using quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research, that reflect effective practices for different populations and mediums will be valuable to this conference.

In light of this theme, we are keen to receive proposals that:

• Are informative and relevant to the theme Mentoring Networks: The Impact of Developmental Relationships on the Future of Work.
• Are supported by solid evaluation, theory, and research, and
• Use the scientific method to understand this phenomenon

We are interested in hosting presentations related to mentoring, coaching, supervision, and leadership within multiple configurations such as peer, traditional, group, reciprocal, circle, face-to-face, and virtual relationships. Submissions will be accepted for the following strands: business, innovation, and entrepreneurship; STEM (science, technology, engineering, & mathematics); education (K-22 students, faculty & staff); teacher mentoring; diversity; arts; humanities; and health sciences. 

We wish for proposals to accomplish the following: 

• A maximum of 300 words (made up of four 75-word sections)
• Present theoretical frameworks that translate and support the establishment of high-quality connections in the context of developmental relationships
• Demonstrate the effectiveness of existing mentoring, coaching, and leadership practices
• Propose new methodologies or evaluation models
• Promote diversity, inclusion, and cross-cultural relationships
• Introduce concepts and ideas to promote and develop high-quality connections

Presentation Requirements

Presenters in the 2023 conference must meet the following requirements for their session (please read these carefully, as they are mandatory for all presenters):

Individual/Panel Sessions

• Presentation: Presenters are assigned a 45-minute slot; we suggest a TED Talk format for the first 30 minutes of the presentation, 10 minutes for Q&A, and 5 minutes for the session's evaluation

• Paper: Submission of a 5–7 page paper on the topic of your presentation is mandatory. Papers will be peer-reviewed and published in the online journal The Chronicle of Mentoring and Coaching

• Optional Poster Submission: In addition to your individual/panel presentation, we strongly suggest creating a  poster to be displayed during our poster session on Wednesday, October 25th. You do not need to write an additional poster paper; however, you will need to bring a printed poster. We will provide display poster boards and tables.

Round Table

• Presentation: Presenters are assigned a 45-minute slot. The first 15 minutes will be a presentation, with the remainder of the slot used for interaction and discussion with the attendees.

• Paper: Submission of a 5-7 page paper on the topic of your presentation is mandatory. Papers will be peer-reviewed and published in the conference's special issue of The Chronicle of Mentoring and Coaching.

Presenter Registration

• Presenters must register for the conference; registration will grant access to 15 plenary/round table/poster sessions and more than 200 individual/panel sessions. As a token of our appreciation for the presenters' contributions to our conference, accepted presenters will receive a $100 discount from the standard fee of $600. Please register using your acceptance code here.

Call for Reviewers

The Mentoring Institute is seeking reviewers to assist at the 2023 Mentoring Conference. If you are a past presenter, or you are a faculty member at an institution of higher education, you may serve as a peer reviewer. This is a great opportunity to read and critically analyze scholarly work in the field of mentoring, coaching, and leadership. The annual conference brings in scholars from all over the nation, as well as international researchers. 

Reviewers' Commitments Include:

1. Indicating to The Mentoring Institute that you would like to be a peer reviewer prior to April 15th by sending an email to mentor@unm.edu regarding your interest in volunteering as a reviewer. Note that in order to be accepted as a peer reviewer you must have been a past presenter at our conference or be a faculty member at an institution of higher education. 

2. Rating 10-20 abstracts from May 16th to May 23rd based on their appropriateness for this year’s conference. These ratings will help our editors to determine which abstracts we will be accepted to the conference this year. 

3. Reviewing 5–10 papers during the review cycle from July 1st to July 30th, closely following review guidelines and providing constructive feedback to enhance the work to be published in the conference special issue of The Chronicle of Mentoring and Coaching.  

We greatly appreciate your assistance and encourage you to take advantage of this valuable opportunity!

Submission Process & Deadlines

1. Call for Proposals: The 2023 Call for Proposals will be released on Monday, March 20th, 2023. Abstracts should be submitted through our website, and must not exceed 300 words. 

2. Abstract Submission: The deadline to submit abstracts is Monday, May 15th, 2023. Authors will be notified of proposal acceptance or exclusion by Tuesday, May 30th, 2023. 

3. Presenter Registration: Accepted presenters must register for the conference no later than Thursday, June 15th, 2023. Failure to complete registration by this deadline will result in removal from the accepted presenter list; subsequently, vacant slots will be offered to other presenters. 

4. Last Date to Register as Peer-Reviewer: If you are a past presenter or you are a faculty member at an institution of higher education, you may serve as a peer reviewer. The deadline to register as a peer reviewer is Saturday, April 15th, 2023. 

5. First Draft of Paper: If your abstract is accepted for a presentation, you are required to submit a paper on the topic of your presentation. The deadline to submit the paper is Friday, June 30th, 2023. 

6. Peer Review: Papers will be peer-reviewed and returned on Tuesday, August 1st, 2023 with comments. You may choose to accept or reject these suggestions, but you must submit a final paper in order to be published in the special issue of The Chronicle of Mentoring and Coaching. 

7. Final Paper: Final paper submissions are due electronically by Wednesday, August 30th, 2023. 

8. Standard Registration Deadline: The last date for standard registration is Friday, October 13th, 2023.