Mentorship in graduate school matters because national attrition rates are as high as 50%. At UCR, they hover around 30%. A study conducted in 2018 found that of the students who participated in the Graduate Student Mentorship Program (GSMP), fewer than 10% of mentees had dropped out of graduate school. 

What is the moral of the story? Mentorship matters! 

Mentorship benefits both the mentee and the mentor. The three pillars of academic professionalization are service, teaching, and research. While most graduate students have taught and researched throughout their graduate school experience, what about service? Service is often fulfilled through engagement in committee and leadership roles in professional associations and societies. Service can also be fulfilled on campus through mentoring. 

How can YOU get involved in mentorship? 

The GSMP is a year-long mentorship commitment where advanced graduate students mentor first-year graduate students. Mentors get paid hourly for their work and have the opportunity to become certified through the College Reading & Learning Association, International Peer Educators Training Program Certification. The peer mentor position is a 7% FTE. Many mentors serve in GSMP while they hold TA or GSR roles.

Peer mentors are expected to meet with their mentees every two weeks and can hang out with them. At the same time, they fulfill quarterly requirements of attending programming across campus that supports students’ professional development, professional communication, wellness, and mental health. 

If you want to learn more about the Peer Mentor role in GSMP, please pop into one of the info sessions. Information session 1 will take place on May 9th at 9:30 AM. Information session 2 will take place on May 20th at 4:30 PM. Please use this Zoom link to attend. You can also browse the GSMP website for more information here.

If you want to become a peer mentor, fill out this Peer Mentor Application. The link to the application can be found here.

If you have specific questions or cannot attend the info sessions, feel free to contact Monique Posadas at mposadas@ucr.edu.