How to Mentor Anyone in Academia

Maria LaMonaca Wisdom
Duke University 

Across higher education, we can no longer assume that our mentees—whether graduate students, postdoctoral researchers or junior faculty, will follow closely in our footsteps. Today’s academic mentees come from a wider range of backgrounds, value different things, and are less likely to pursue careers in academia. They may also hold mentors to a higher set of expectations, including more intensive forms of psychological and emotional support. Unfortunately, many academic mentors rely on traditional, increasingly ineffective modes of mentoring that foreground subject matter expertise (advice) and personal example (role-modeling).

How do you mentor someone who won’t become you?
In this highly interactive workshop for faculty and higher-ed leaders, we’ll explore practices outlined in How To Mentor Anyone in Academia (Princeton UP 2025) that can empower academic mentors to mentor anyone. These include sustaining a robust practice of self-reflection; engaging in active listening, powerful questioning, and other “coach-like” behaviors; and learning from evidence-based theories of human motivation and change management. Because no successful mentoring relationship happens in a vacuum, we’ll also discuss strategies for partnering with mentees, with colleagues, and with broader peer networks to build more robust cultures of mentoring for all.

Designing, Managing, and Evaluating Mentoring Programs

David Law
Utah State University 

You can strengthen your effectiveness as a mentoring program coordinator or manager through this interactive workshop. Using evidence-based practices, we will explore the full lifecycle of mentoring programs—from design and management to evaluation. Participants will work with a copy of Making Connections: A Handbook for Effective Formal Mentoring Programs in Academia (Law & Dominguez, 2023).

By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

• Understand the phases of program development
• Define goals, objectives, and outcomes
• Create an operational definition of mentoring influenced by theory
• Align institutional needs with program goals
• Develop a theory of change and logic model
• Create an assessment and evaluation plan
• Clarify expectations and deliver goal-aligned activities
• Monitor activities and relationships for early intervention
• Create a one-page program theory of change logic model for stakeholders and evaluation

This session is for both new and experienced program managers. Participants are encouraged to share examples from their program to ensure practical, engaging learning.

Developmental Networks Ecosystems

Nora Dominguez
University of New Mexico   

This session examines the evolution of traditional mentoring models into dynamic, collaborative developmental networks ecosystems comprising diverse, reciprocal, identity-affirming, and evolving relationships. Rather than conceptualizing mentoring as a hierarchical or one-directional process, this session repositions it as a distributed, networked practice embedded in broader institutional systems. Developmental networks ecosystems emphasize the interdependence of formal and informal relationships, the distributed nature of leadership and learning, and the importance of context in shaping access to developmental resources. Participants will engage with multiple perspectives on how developmental networks function across career stages and institutional contexts, and how they can be intentionally cultivated to support individual and organizational wellbeing.

Whole-Person Mentoring: Elevating Relationships Through the Eight Dimensions of Wellness

Greg Golden
University of New Mexico   

Mentoring is most impactful when it supports the whole person, not just their academic or professional development. This session explores how mentors can deepen their relationships and enhance their impact by integrating SAMHSA’s Eight Dimensions of Wellness into their approach. Participants will learn how emotional, environmental, financial, intellectual, occupational, physical, social, and spiritual wellness all influence a mentee’s growth, motivation, and ability to thrive. Through guided reflection, thought-provoking questions, and a hands-on partner activity, mentors will practice engaging in wellness-centered conversations that promote trust, resilience, and purpose. This framework empowers mentors to recognize when a mentee’s struggles may lie outside their usual areas of focus, and how to respond with empathy, support, and appropriate resources. Whether you are a new mentor or looking to take your mentorship to the next level, this session will help you build stronger, more holistic, and more meaningful mentoring relationships through a wellness-informed lens.

Beyond the Degree: Mentoring Graduate Students for Workforce Success and Wellbeing

Levon Esters
Penn State 

Graduate education is not just about earning a degree—it is about preparing students for meaningful careers and lifelong success. In this session, we will explore how mentoring graduate students through a developmental network approach fosters both individual wellbeing and organizational growth.
Drawing on research and personal experience, Dr. Esters will share strategies that support career readiness, resilience, and holistic development. This includes the role of faculty, peers, and industry professionals in creating mentoring ecosystems. Institutions can integrate these practices into workplace cultures to improve student outcomes and organizational performance.
Participants will leave with actionable strategies for building mentoring networks that empower graduate students while fostering a sense of purpose, balance, and belonging.

Developmental Networks for Wellbeing

Dionne Clabaugh
Angle 4 Solutions 

This plenary session will explore developmental mentoring networks by describing their structure and intended impact on one’s personal and professional wellbeing. Interactive opportunities for story-sharing seek to inform and inspire participants to consider multiple points of view about the benefits of multiple mentoring relationships, both as a mentor and mentee. Participants will co-construct initial beliefs about these benefits specifically for their own wellbeing and professional success.

The experiences and insights shared are intended to enhance participant engagement at this conference so they can maximize this experience and better leverage mentoring networks for their personal, professional, and organizational development through inspiration and self-directed action. I hope to see you there!

Mentoring Into Retirement

Bethany Cockburn
Northern Illinois University 

Retirement, a significant life transition, presents both exciting opportunities and formidable challenges. Millions of people in the United States alone transition into retirement annually. While financial planning is essential, preparing for the emotional and identity-related aspects of retirement are often overlooked. This session examines the challenges associated with this transition, including loneliness, health decline, and mortality risks. The presenter will share research findings on the impact of relationships, specifically mentoring, in mitigating these challenges and promoting a positive retirement experience. Participants will explore practical strategies for cultivating effective mentoring relationships, both personally and within organizational settings, and will engage in reflective exercises to apply these concepts to their own experiences and contexts.

Strengthening Mentorship: The Role of Organizational Climate and Developmental Networks

Beth Tigges
University of New Mexico 

Effective mentorship, including the practice of developmental networking, is crucial for personal and professional growth. Organizational climate plays a significant role in shaping mentoring practices.

Strategies to improve mentoring environments include fostering leadership support, setting clear expectations, and offering structured mentoring programs. Recognizing mentoring in evaluations and career advancement is also key.

Dr. Tigges will also discuss the importance of developmental networks—groups of mentors, allies, and sponsors who provide diverse support—and how they contribute to resilience and career success. Organizational policies must align to support this culture shift, and future research is needed to evaluate these interventions.

Hosting an Ecology for Wellbeing in Our Organizations

Keith Walker
University of Saskatchewan 

How might we be encouraged to continue to re-think about our organizations as places and spaces for fostering wellbeing? This session will invite our reflections on the vital priority, dynamics, and pragmatics of personal, interpersonal, reciprocal, and collective wellbeing in organizations. As leaders, followers and mentors, what are the scripts that we have come to believe about our roles and relationships that support wellbeing? What are the values and habits that help and hinder wellbeing? Viewed through a systems and ecological set of perspectives, we will review three key “hosting virtues” and the place of adaptive and leaderful strategies and practices that give attention to noticing, nurturing and sustaining overall organizational wellbeing.

Wellbeing Matters! A Mentoring Model for Educational Settings

Carol A. Mullen & Ellen H. Reames
Virginia Tech, Auburn University 

Interest in wellbeing is growing across higher education and other settings, but it tends to be thought of as loosely related to mentoring. Yet, mentoring has a significant wellbeing element (psychosocial function) that involves emotional support, acceptance, role modeling, and belonging. Career support, measured by metrics of success (promotion, publication, graduation, retention, etc.), is also crucial. Wellbeing—feeling accepted and supported, having access to rewarding opportunities, and being treated fairly—overlaps with effective mentoring. The need for giving wellbeing greater prominence in mentoring initiatives to propel flourishing in the lives of many has been recently recognized. An emphasis on wellbeing can, in fact, serve as a catalyst for achieving mentoring goals that benefit students, faculty, and leaders.

Wellbeing, mentoring, and policy, therefore, can be imagined as an interconnected system for promoting mental, emotional, and fulfillment in academic and professional contexts. In this session, Carol presents a blueprint for more effectively and intentionally integrating wellbeing into mentoring practices. Her original mentoring model features four components: Support, Accessibility, Collaboration and Equity (SACE). SACE was derived from her fieldwork in different institutions and analysis of research on mentoring. This framework is conducive for program, leadership, and relational development, and for policymaking in various settings. A goal is to re-imagine mentoring using SACE as metric to gauge equity and, hence, the overall effectiveness and health of institutional cultures. When equity forms a key component in a wellbeing-supported mentoring initiative, manifold benefits can occur: enhanced morale, improved performance, a sense of accomplishment, meaningful engagement, positive relationships, and increased productivity. Session attendees are invited to use Carol’s model and tools as a resource.

Dionne Clabaugh
Angle 4 Solutions

Tuesday: Let’s Get Started - The Conference Theme
Developmental Networks for Wellbeing: The Impact of Mentoring on Individual and Organizational Performance and Growth
Following opening remarks and description of the session purpose and guidelines, groups of 6-8 participants engage in story-sharing circles in response to three appreciative inquiry prompts:

• What elements within the conference theme attracts you this year?
• What does wellbeing mean for your mentoring practice/program success?
• How does a mentoring network support your own performance and growth in mentoring?

Wednesday: Communities of Practice - Personalizing the Conference Theme
Developmental Networks Impact on Individual Wellbeing for Performance and Growth
Following opening remarks and description of the session purpose and guidelines, groups of 6-8 participants engage in story-sharing circles in response to three appreciative inquiry prompts:

• Based on this conference and past experiences, what are the benefits of wellbeing?
• How might you build a developmental mentoring network to increase your own wellbeing?
• How might you guarantee and assess your wellbeing and professional effectiveness?

Thursday: Communities of Practice: Theme-focused Dialogue About Mentoring
Developmental Networks Impact on Organizational Wellbeing for Performance and Growth
Following opening remarks and description of the session purpose and guidelines, groups of 6-8 participants engage in story-sharing circles in response to three appreciative inquiry prompts:

• What is organizational wellbeing? What does it look like and feel like? What is it not?
• How might you mentor to ensure organizational wellbeing?
• How might you assess your mentoring effectiveness to impact organizational wellbeing?