Effective Practices
Develop a structure to support quality advising within the department or program
- Survey students regularly on the quality of their advising experiences, starting in their first term as physics majors. Include an exit survey when students complete their degrees or leave the program.
- Have a clear mechanism through which students can report problems with advising, e.g., a chair's advisory committee.
- Track instances in which incorrect advising leads to measurable consequences for students, e.g., additional time needed to graduate, substitutions to major requirements due to taking the wrong course, loss of financial aid, and leaving the program.
- Pay particular attention to issues that come up disproportionately for students from , and work to address these issues.
- Facilitate quality advising by developing advisor training and expectations, including attention to how to support students from . See the section on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion for more details.
- Encourage advisors to go beyond recommending courses or graduate school and to recognize, investigate, and address deeper questions that might be behind students’ struggles. For example, students may be asking themselves, “Do I belong in college?”; “Do I belong in this program?”; “What is all this hard work for?”; or “What’s next?”
- Assign students a formal or informal physics advisor to begin physics-specific advising as soon as possible, preferably during students’ first year, to allow the department to support and potentially recruit and retain students.
- Establish formal expectations for what should happen in advising meetings and share these expectations with advisors and students, perhaps in a written document such as an advising syllabus. Obtain templates, guidance, and examples of advising syllabi from other departments or offices on campus and/or NACADA’s collection of advising syllabi resource links.
- Encourage advisors to celebrate students’ growth and accomplishments as an opening to discussions of goal setting.
- Create an academic "progress map" (e.g., using available software programs from your institution) for each student. Elicit the student’s interests, goals, constraints, and previous academic accomplishments; record required courses, notes, plans for research or internship experiences, and long-term career goals. Revise this map at least annually and store information for future use by advisors. See the section on Internships for more details.
- Ask advisors to encourage students to prepare for advising meetings, e.g., by checking their progress maps and putting together possible course schedules, with alternatives if conflicts arise.
- Recognize that good advising requires significant time and effort. Support advisors by recognizing their work in evaluation materials and, if possible, by lowering teaching loads and/or service loads in other areas.
- Consider using a developmental or model in order to more effectively support students, particularly at-risk students, by addressing their broader needs. See Resources below.
- Understand the advising setup at your institution (e.g., the roles of and relationships among professional advisors, faculty advisors, and others); ensure communication among types of advisors about major requirements and pathways, career tracks, etc.; and assess how well the model works for your students. If it is not working well, work with your administration to change the structure.
- Ensure that advisors know your institution's policies on adding and dropping courses, major and minor course tracks, general education requirements, financial aid, and immigration and visa status. Ensure advisors know who to contact with questions regarding issues, e.g., financial aid office.
- Ensure that students who take non-traditional paths through your program, such as transfer students and late switchers into physics, get the support they need to navigate the program and complete the major in a timely manner, e.g., by assigning a dedicated transfer student advisor. See Offer degree programs that are flexible and relevant for students with a wide variety of backgrounds, interests, and career aspirations in the section on Retention of Undergraduate Physics Majors for more details.
- Sponsor discussions among advisors about common career trajectories of students and recommended course pathways to prepare students for these careers, e.g., dual-degree physics and engineering programs or tracks to prepare students for high school teaching, physics graduate school, or data analysis for private-sector companies. See the section on Career Preparation for more details.
- Create and support a committee or group to identify, develop, and update needed departmental advising documents, e.g., guides to the major, degree checklists, worksheets, flowcharts, decision matrices based on course outcomes, and career planning materials.
- Encourage advisors to work with students to develop a plan of action for times when the students struggle with course progression or with financial or personal challenges.
- Encourage advisors to proactively review course schedules and report to the chair any conflicts with courses that physics students typically enroll in, e.g., conflicts with mathematics, chemistry, or other STEM courses.
- When possible, require advisors to confirm that students have completed required steps on their academic progress map or plan before they are allowed to register for classes.
- When possible, provide advisors with flexibility to grant overrides or coordinate course substitutions to help students address academic problems, e.g., a required course not being offered when the student needs it or the duplication of similar courses in a double major.
- Consider supplementing faculty advising with other advising roles, e.g., specialized professional advisors and/or peer advisors. Use more generalized advising services around campus to assist with developmental advising so that faculty advisors can spend more time on physics-specific questions, ideas, goals, etc.
- Ensure that advisors are aware of the factors that need to be addressed when advising a student on whether to drop a course. These factors could include hindering of a student’s progression through required courses due to how frequently a course is offered or to a course being a prerequisite for subsequent courses; dropping of a student’s credit load below the threshold needed for financial aid or fellowships, imperiling of a student’s visa status, impact on a student’s GPA and/or academic probation.
Support all advisors and mentors in developing personal and supportive relationships with students
- Find out how your students are doing by asking, for example, what classes they like; what they like about those classes; what they find difficult; whether they have gone to office hours and talked to the professor if they have difficulties in a class; whether they know other students in the class; their favorite spot on campus to hang out with friends; where and when they do homework; whether they work a paid job and, if so, how many hours they work.
- Develop relationships with students that enable open communication about issues that can impact success. For example, consider meeting students in informal environments and discuss hobbies or other interests outside of physics.
- Balance getting to know your students with respecting their privacy. For example, ask open-ended questions that students can answer at the level of detail they are comfortable with; share things from your own life to normalize personal discussions; and let students know they can talk to you about academic or non-academic issues. Recognize that it may take time for students to open up and share difficult issues, and provide space and time for them to do so.
- Acknowledge the importance of aspects of students' lives that extend beyond the classroom (e.g., family, work, community engagement, service, activism, athletics), and provide students opportunities to discuss these aspects if they wish.
- If students choose to talk about aspects of their identities (e.g., culture, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, languages, religion, socioeconomic background, first-generation status), take the opportunity to engage and learn about these identities and reflect on how they may intersect with students’ experiences in your program.
- Learn about the backgrounds that are common among students in your department and institution and the experiences of people with those backgrounds, e.g., students from particular ethnic or cultural backgrounds, first-generation students, or students from low-income families. Consider these experiences when guiding students, while also recognizing that each individual’s experience is unique.
- Recognize that students will change over their academic careers, and expect advising or mentoring relationships to change as well. For example, advisors or mentors might provide less scaffolding and encourage more independence as students develop a greater sense of self-efficacy.
- Recognize that students may have responsibilities (e.g., caring for children and other family members) and challenges (e.g., disabilities, homelessness, food insecurity, loss, and abuse) that you are not aware of. Be compassionate; allow space for students to share such challenges if they choose to do so; and understand why they might not do so.
- Help students create realistic plans for success in physics that move at an appropriate pace given students’ other commitments.
- Build a support team for at-risk students to ensure their success. Include advisors, mentors, and support staff from campus offices.
- Learn how to recognize the warning signs for mental health crises, economic challenges, and other problems and to respectfully help students get the support they need.
- Recognize when you are dealing with issues beyond your expertise and comfort level, and know what offices and individuals to consult for assistance. See Support all advisors and mentors in learning about and sharing resources for students below for examples.
- Encourage students to engage in self-care; refer them to on- or off-campus resources for time management, stress reduction, physical activity, good sleep habits, and play.
- Encourage and normalize the use of physical and mental health resources; explicitly refute any negative associations with use of mental health services.
- Encourage advisors and mentors to model a balanced life and to convey to students that they can succeed in physics without focusing solely on work. See the section on Departmental Culture and Climate for more details.
- Ensure that advisors and mentors recognize that they hold more power than their mentees, and therefore have a responsibility to model appropriate behavior.
- Ensure that advisors and mentors maintain professional relationships with students, e.g., that advisors and mentors treat students with the respect they would give any colleague and avoid using or allowing intoxicants during interactions with students.
- Ensure that advisors and mentors demonstrate respect for all aspects of students’ identities, e.g., culture, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, languages, religion, socioeconomic background, and first-generation status.
- Ensure that faculty, staff, advisors, and mentors receive appropriate training on how to provide a safe space for students, e.g., Campus Pride Safe Space Training.
- Recognize that unique challenges may arise when students have very different backgrounds from their advisors and/or mentors, and ensure that advisors and mentors are given appropriate support and training in to understand the needs and experiences of students as distinct from their own.
- Consider the impact of the physical space on a student’s comfort and mindset. For example, ask if they would like the door open or closed in a discussion, and consider whether to meet in your office or in a neutral location to encourage discussion of topics beyond academics.
- Communicate to students that all conversations will be confidential to the extent possible, with the exception of mandatory reporting requirements.
- Protect students from advisors and mentors who cause harm by, e.g., avoiding assigning students to harmful advisors and mentors, and ensuring students are supported in finding additional mentors and recommendation letter writers. Hold harmful advisors and mentors accountable by, e.g., discussing the problem directly with the advisor or mentor, ensuring mentee feedback is built into personnel reviews, providing appropriate professional development, and recommending appropriate disciplinary measures.
- Help students recognize that setbacks occur and can be overcome, and that skills and abilities are not innate but can be developed through focused effort.
- Help students realize that successful students use campus resources such as tutoring, office hours, counseling services, and career/internship planning services.
- Encourage students to reflect on their accomplishments, e.g., developing skills, passing critical courses, or developing a sense of inquiry.
- Provide scaffolding for students to develop self-advocacy skills, e.g., by identifying opportunities for students to take on leadership roles or by recognizing students for speaking up for their viewpoints in discussions.
- Recognize that many students, especially first-generation college students and students from other countries, may not be familiar with academic culture in the U.S. Teach students how to navigate this culture, by e.g., personally introducing students to other faculty members to help students feel comfortable approaching faculty; explaining how office hours work and that it is part of professors' jobs to answer student questions; offering guidance on how to have difficult conversations with faculty; and talking explicitly about how to approach someone for a research internship.
Support all advisors and mentors in learning about and sharing resources for students
- Ensure that faculty and students know about and share academic and career resources, e.g., academic advising centers, career counseling, quantitative skills centers, supplemental instruction, and tutoring services.
- Ensure that faculty and students know about and share non-academic support resources, e.g., emergency financial support, food pantries, crisis hotlines, counseling centers, support groups, organizations for students from , safety escort or other transportation services, and the campus ombudsperson or other institutional advocates for students.
- Ensure that advisors and mentors learn about on-campus resources and support staff and their roles. Consider appointing a department liaison so there is a consistent person to refer students to for further support.
- Recognize that student homelessness and food insecurity are common problems, and learn about what resources exist to address them, including financial, food, and housing support and federal laws and programs such as the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.
- Sponsor discussions among advisors and mentors about available resources and how to share them with students.
- Invite a professional advisor or other external expert to a department meeting to share resources that are available to students.
- Create and regularly update lists of resources, and share them with faculty, staff, and students. Ensure that there is a clear mechanism by which any member of the department can suggest resources to add. Refer to existing lists of resources, e.g., lists from your advising office.
- Communicate to students about resources frequently—probably at least once a term—to demonstrate the importance of such resources and to remind students of their existence.
- Think about what resources might help a student in a particular situation and recommend resources when they are relevant.
- Help students take the first steps in accessing resources by directly referring students to an individual who can provide the resource, sending an introductory email, and providing a warm handoff when possible. This increases the likelihood that students will actually seek the help that a resource can provide.
- Follow up with students after recommending resources to find out if they are getting the help they need, if the resources were helpful, and/or if they need additional support.
- Recognize that faculty are not trained to deal with many crisis situations and should immediately connect students in crisis to appropriate professional resources, e.g., by personally escorting a student to a mental health clinic or center.
- Communicate to students the roles and responsibilities of key administrators who can support students, e.g., dean of students, chair, department administrator, ombudsperson.
- Consider group advising sessions that address broad topics relevant to student success and advancement, such as health and wellness resources, research experiences, preparation to become a teacher, entering the workforce, or applying to graduate school.
- Engage student groups that are active within your department (e.g., chapters, student chapters of national organizations for students of color, local clubs for women or students of color in physics, study groups, and other student social networks) to spread knowledge of resources.
- Post lists of resources on your departmental website and in common areas frequented by students, and encourage advisors and mentors to refer to these lists.
Have a formal structure that supports mentoring within your department or program
- Collect data on current mentoring practices and perceived needs of faculty and students, and use those data to inform the design of your mentoring program.
- Pay special attention to the needs and experiences of students from and integrate what you learn into your mentoring program. At the same time, do not single out students from marginalized groups for mentoring.
- Consider the advantages of having a stand-alone mentoring program within your department, coordinating with other departments to create a STEM-wide program, or making use of existing institutional programs.
- Identify faculty who can serve as mentoring champions by guiding and facilitating a departmental mentoring program and/or coordinating with programs beyond the department.
- Recognize that faculty advisors of student organizations have associated mentoring duties and make those duties explicit.
- Include prioritized actions that support mentoring in your department’s strategic plan.
- Work with your administration to secure required resources for your mentoring program, e.g., space for events, funds for training, and staff time for coordinating.
- Create a departmental committee or task force to report to the faculty as a whole on your mentoring program.
- Ask mentors about mentoring practices in your department and ask students how they engage with these practices. Ask, for example, about the frequency of interactions, specific examples of mentoring of students facing critical issues, and successes mentors have had in helping students clarify their intent or direction.
- Sponsor ongoing discussions with mentors on existing practices and include student opinions in these discussions, e.g., by sponsoring round-table discussions on mentoring practices at departmental meetings.
- Create opportunities for mentors to share and discuss challenges, solutions, and effective practices in mentoring, e.g., consider having faculty members newer to mentoring shadow more experienced mentors.
- Learn about and use mentoring resources and programs provided by your institution, where available.
- Learn about and use evidence-based mentoring practices, curricula, resources, and strategies. See Resources below.
- Research and share information from other departments and institutions, e.g., resource lists, mentoring guidelines and documents, and marketing materials used to communicate critical messages.
- Gather information from professional societies, including those in other disciplines, e.g., training materials, “best-practice” guidelines, and policy statements.
- Allow students to choose their mentors so they can establish trust and comfort, but be prepared to carefully assign mentors to students if necessary, so that if a student does not choose a mentor on their own it doesn’t preclude the possibility of their having a mentor.
- Implement accountability structures for mentors, e.g., set expectations for the quality and quantity of time spent with mentees.
- Use written mentoring tools such as individual development plans, mentoring compacts or contracts, mentoring maps, and mentoring plans to establish and reinforce roles, responsibilities, and goals. Find templates, guidance, and examples for these tools from other departments or offices on campus and/or the Mentoring Tools section of The Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM online guide.
- Inspire mentors to remove barriers to and advocate for student success, e.g., by helping students identify needed campus resources, get into critical classes, learn study skills to succeed in those classes, and get financial support that can reduce stress.
- Develop formal structures to report and address problems in mentoring relationships in order to bring to the surface concerns of vulnerable students who might not come forward through informal mechanisms.
- Ensure that the department chair receives professional development in conflict management so they can step in when conflicts arise in mentoring relationships.
- Identify institutional resources that can help address negative mentoring experiences, e.g., ombudspersons and mediation resources.
- Ensure that mentors receive training on a range of topics using appropriate resources, both on and off campus. See Resources below.
- Ensure that mentor training is available to all mentors, including faculty (especially new faculty), staff, postdocs, student peer mentors, and alumni who serve as mentors.
- Ensure that mentors receive training on and inclusive practices “such as listening actively, working toward cultural responsiveness, moving beyond ‘,’ intentionally considering how culture-based dynamics like can negatively influence mentoring relationships, and reflecting on how [mentors’] biases and prejudices may affect mentees and mentoring relationships, specifically for mentorship of underrepresented mentees.” (These examples are taken from The Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM online guide.)
- Use appropriate campus resources (e.g., your office of equity, diversity, and inclusion; your human resources office) or see the section on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion for details on how to implement the strategies below.
- Create an inclusive mentoring program, emphasizing cultural responsiveness and awareness of the ways that culture and identity impact mentoring relationships.
- Support mentors in recognizing and counteracting their own biases and tendencies to focus on students’ deficits rather than their strengths.
- Recognize that positive mentoring experiences are particularly important for integrating students from into the physics community, and ensure that your mentoring program is responsive to the needs of such students.
- Conduct regular formal reviews of mentoring programs and activities, assessing alignment with your departmental mission and vision. Include a wide variety of voices, e.g., those of students, faculty, and others involved in your mentoring program.
- Survey students regularly on the quality of their mentoring experiences, starting in their first term as physics majors. Include an exit survey when students complete their degrees or leave the program.
- Regularly revisit the structure of your mentoring program to ensure that it is still meeting your departmental needs.
- Pay particular attention to issues that come up disproportionately for students from , and work to address these issues.
- Create structures such as peer mentoring, mentoring teams, and mentoring networks that enable students to receive mentoring and advising from many different people (e.g., faculty, peers, alumni, postdocs, graduate students, and staff) who can provide advice on career and academic issues (e.g., pathways through the curriculum, support and resources available and how to access them, and career development), accessibility issues (e.g., scholarships, financial aid, and disability accommodations), and psychosocial issues (e.g., self-efficacy, climate, and dealing with microaggression).
- Support peer mentoring or near-peer mentoring by connecting students with each other and making professional development available to student mentors.
- Support the development of peer mentoring or near-peer mentoring programs by providing resources and funding, supporting students in applying for small amounts of funding (e.g., APS Women in Physics Group Grants), creating teaching assistant roles for running such programs, and/or creating a course-based mentoring program. Consider partnering with chapters, student chapters of national organizations for students of color, local clubs for women or students of color in physics, other student social networks, national peer mentoring groups such as the Access Network, etc.
- Ensure that each student has a principal mentor who can help them navigate their network of advisors and mentors and who will take responsibility for making sure the student gets the support they need.
- Encourage discussions among mentors to enable interventions when necessary and to inform other mentors about issues a student may be having. Set up regular meeting times for mentor discussions.
- Recruit alumni (preferably recent graduates) for formal and informal mentoring of current students, e.g., to support students in understanding career pathways.
Recognize how mentoring contributes to the department or program
- Educate yourself and your department about research on the benefits of mentoring. See Evidence below.
- Communicate to faculty that mentoring of students is a department priority and critical to the mission of ensuring student success.
- Demonstrate to students and faculty the value of mentoring by highlighting mentoring activities, success stories, and testimonials in departmental and institutional communications.
- Recognize mentoring as a component of personnel evaluations for, e.g., reappointment, promotion, and tenure. Provide mechanisms for mentors to include documentation of their mentoring practices and accomplishments in evaluation packages, e.g., reflective statements, markers of student accomplishments, and student testimonials.
- Recognize that mentoring of students from often falls disproportionately to faculty and graduate students from marginalized groups, and take steps to relieve and/or reward this additional labor.
- If mentoring responsibilities are not divided equally, ensure that the mentors doing the most have adequate rewards and/or reductions in other service expectations.
- Celebrate mentoring, e.g., by nominating outstanding mentors for departmental, institutional, and national awards and/or by creating departmental mentoring awards.
- If graduate students and/or postdocs serve as mentors, recognize the value of the time and effort they spend on mentoring and provide rewards and structural incentives to support these mentors.