Mentoring and Retention

Some suggestions for particular mentoring initiatives are provided in this section. These suggestions apply to both master’s and doctoral students.

Orienting Graduate Students to University and Departmental Procedures and Expectations

One of the first activities a department should arrange for its new graduate students is an orientation. The purpose of this program should be to acquaint incoming students with the University and Department expectations for completing the requirements for the student’s degree program. The following issues should be emphasized:

• The time limit for degree completion.
   
• The total number of graduate credits beyond the baccalaureate degree that must be successfully completed.
   
• How to transfer credits from other universities (Credits must be appropriate to the WSU degree and must carry a grade of B or better. That is, B-, P and S grades are not transferable).
   
• Special courses to be completed and their sequencing.
   
• Process for appointing advisors.
   
• Arrangements for preparation and submission of the Plan of Work.
   
• Nature and timing of special examinations.
   
• General departmental expectations concerning research activities and coursework.
   
• Departmental policies concerning satisfactory progress.
   
• Funding opportunities.
   
• Departmental and University policies concerning ownership and use of data collected in laboratories or on projects.
   
• Departmental procedures for resolving academic disputes and personality difficulties among faculty members on a student’s committee or between faculty members and a student.
   
• Academic ethics in research and in course work.
   
• University and Departmental policies for dealing with plagiarism.
   
• The provisions in the University's Student Due Process Policy.
   
• The University's policies on the use of human and animal subjects in research.
   
• The Department's policy on grade appeals.
   
• The Department's commitment to encouraging ethnic and cultural diversity. 

As much of this information as possible should be given to students in writing, e.g., a Graduate Student Handbook and on the departmental website.

Departments should distribute the names of all graduate faculty members with their office and e-mail addresses, telephone numbers and areas of current research. This would serve as an introduction to the faculty and their research interests.

Evaluating the Progress of Graduate Students toward Their Degree

Every department should have methods of monitoring the progress of graduate students toward completing the requirements for the degree. Please see the Annual Review of Ph.D. Students and Graduate Student Academic Progress Guidelines. Methods for achieving this goal will vary by department but could include:

• Regular reviews of students' files by a graduate committee, advisor, Graduate Director, or advisory committee.
   
• The development of an annual student assessment/evaluation review process.
   
• Instituting a system of required advising.
   
• Having conferences with students on their performance in key courses.
   
•  In science departments, a regular review of students’ performance in laboratory rotations.

Whatever method or methods a department uses, it should ensure that every student benefits from regular monitoring of his or her progress toward the degree. Each graduate student should have the experience of at least an annual one-on-one discussion with a faculty advisor at which the student's academic progress and goals are discussed. Feedback to students should be given in writing. The department should make special efforts to assist students who are experiencing academic problems or have conflicts with instructors. Departments should pay special attention to minority and foreign students, because these students frequently experience problems resulting from isolation and cultural conflict that can impede their progress toward the graduate degree.

Faculty Interactions with Students

In addition to particular initiatives that the Graduate Director should develop and supervise, faculty mentors need to be made aware of interpersonal issues between a student and mentor that 6 can affect student progress. It is the Graduate Director’s responsibility to heighten faculty sensitivity to these issues. In 1999 Loraleigh Keashly, Associate Professor of Communication and Psychology, and Karen Jagatic, a graduate student in the Department of Psychology, presented a research paper on student reports of faculty mistreatment. Participants in the study were graduate students enrolled in various programs at WSU. One hundred thirty-eight of the 163 students contacted agreed to participate, yielding a response rate of 82%. Students were interviewed by telephone concerning the nature and effects of negative interactions with faculty toward graduate students. Although by far the majority of faculty behaviors cited by the respondents were positive, some notably negative behaviors were included as well. Some of the more frequently reported mistreatment items include the following faculty behaviors:

• Gave little or no feedback on student performance on projects or exams.
   
• Had not clearly defined the goals for a course despite requests to do so.
   
• Failed to provide guidance on the student's work.
   
• Showed lack of concern for the student’s success in the program.
   
• Failed to show empathy or sympathy when the student was having a tough time.
   
• Failed to return the student’s calls despite repeated requests to do so.
   
• Ignored the student.
   
• Failed to show up for appointments with students.

Keashly and Jagatic noted that most of the mistreatment behaviors reported are primarily of a neglectful nature. Nevertheless, they concluded that these and other neglectful behaviors may be as damaging as more overtly hostile behaviors, such as speaking in a sarcastic tone, harshly criticizing work, not allowing students to finish speaking, swearing. Moreover, neglectful faculty behavior was related to poor student health. Keashly and Jagatic suggest that if faculty were made aware of how damaging their acts of neglect were, perhaps faculty would be more appropriately engaged in their mentoring relationships with students. Graduate Directors can play a key role in discussing these issues with faculty and students and help make the faculty aware of behaviors that students find hurtful and frustrating. Attention to these behaviors is critical not just from an ethical standpoint but also from a more pragmatic one. Faculty behaviors are related to student retention. Keashly and Jagatic found that students who reported more mistreatment were more likely to indicate that they planned to drop out of their program or leave the University.