Mentoring Excellence Program

Effective mentoring is a crucial part of the academic experience. Mentors provide support and connect students to academic and campus resources to aid in the students’ success. The Mentoring Excellence Program (MEP) is a 5-week certificate program intended for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars interested in becoming a mentor or seek to enhance their mentoring skills.

The program cultivates a qualified pool of trained mentors to support students in campus-wide initiatives including Competitive Edge, Graduate InterConnect, DECADE and the Summer Research Program. Trained mentors obtain a skill set sought after in the career marketplace both inside and outside of academia.

What You’ll Learn

In this series participants will: 

  • Understand strategies and techniques for effective mentoring
  • Gain familiarity with relevant campus resources
  • Develop a personalized mentoring philosophy and mentoring plan
  • Learn about mentoring students from diverse backgrounds 
  • Learn conflict resolution in mentoring 

 

Who Should Apply

Graduate students and postdoctoral scholars form all disciplines and levels. 

*Due to the high volume of applicants, priority is given to students who are training to be peer mentors for Graduate Division’s mentoring programs. 

 

Certificate Requirements

The Mentoring Excellence Program is offered on a quarterly basis. Participants must attend all sessions in their entirety and submit a complete Mentoring Guide to receive a Certificate of Completion.

ATTENDANCE:  Participants who miss 1-3 sessions will be asked to “make-up” the missed session(s) in the subsequent quarter. If you miss a big chunk of any session (coming in really late or leaving really early), you will have to make up that session as it will not count as completed. 

After completing your missed session(s) you will receive your MEP certificate. Missing 4 or more sessions will result in having to re-enroll in the series at a later time and taking all sessions then. 

 

Course Schedule 

  • 2025 Winter Schedule:
    • Virtual Sessions:
      • Tuesdays from 10AM – 11:30AM
      • Session dates: January 21, 28, February 4, 11, 18
      • Location: Zoom link will be sent to those accepted into the program
    • Acceptances will be sent by Friday, January 10th

How to Apply

Complete and submit the MEP Interest Form via CampusGroups – it will open on Monday, December 16th. The Interest Form will be open until the deadline. You will receive an email determining if you were selected for the program or not.

Graduate students: Login to CampusGroups with your UCI credentials. 

Postdoctoral Scholars: If you are new to CampusGroups, please create a “staff” account first.  

Schedule 

The MEP sessions are listed below. Please note that we switch the order around quarterly depending on the facilitator’s availability. If you’re making up past sessions please check the name of the session you missed as the order might be different from your cohort. If you’re unsure, please check in with Rosie Victor (rvictor@uci.edu) to verify before you make-up your session(s).

Contact

Questions? Email Rosie Victor, Professional Development and Postdoctoral Analyst, at rvictor@uci.edu