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Caltech Mentors | Co-Mentors | Mentoring
Tips
Who May Serve as a Mentor?
All Caltech faculty members including research, teaching, and visiting faculty.
The Role of a Mentor
The primary role of the mentor is to serve as the senior partner in a collaboration
with the student. It is important that the student be offered—and
eventually accept—intellectual responsibility for his/her own project,
but for most students the project will be the first research experience, so
the mentor must be a teacher and a coach and a partner.
The primary responsibilities of the mentor are to prepare
for the student’s
arrival and to help the student meet all of the requirements of the program
under which the student is registered; however, there are a number of specific
responsibilities that each mentor will have in preparing for the project and
in guiding the student through it during the summer:
- Caltech faculty mentors may write an Announcement of Opportunity (AO) to
notify students of potential SURF projects in their laboratories. The AO
should outline the background, motivation, and objectives of the project
and the nature of the work the student will do, and provide literature references
or web sites where the student will be able to learn more about the subject.
The AO must give contact information. Email AO to the Student-Faculty Programs
Office (sfp@caltech.edu). AOs will be
posted on the SURF web site.
- Consult with the student on the planning of the project
and review a draft of the student's proposal. Note that the proposal should
be the student’s
product; the mentor may not write it, but may and should provide advice and
guidance during its preparation.
- Complete the online Mentor Recommendation Form by the March 1 deadline.
Mentors will be prompted by the SFP Online system to complete the evaluation
when the student has submitted his/her application. Contact the SFPO at 626.395.2885
or via email if you have questions or
need further information.
- Notify the Student-Faculty Programs Office of the name of the co-mentor,
if applicable.
- Mentor must be aware of the date of arrival of the student and make relevant
preparations, including providing a place for the student to sit, a computer,
and a telephone.
- During the first week after the student’s arrival,
the student will be required to attend a Safety Orientation Meeting. Following
the meeting, the mentor or laboratory safety officer must review with the
student the Workplace Specific Safety Orientation Checklist for SURF/MURF
students and, with the student, sign the form. The student must return the signed
form to the Student-Faculty Programs Office.
- During the summer, the mentor and/or co-mentor oversees the student's work
on the project and consults at regular and appropriate intervals.
- Sign the progress reports and abstract which the student must submit throughout
the summer. Mentors must authorize someone to sign the reports in their absence.
Mentors should use the progress reports as an opportunity to discuss research
progress, problems, etc. Students should use the reports to practice technical
writing skills.
- Collaborate with the student in writing the abstract and final report.
The paper must be submitted electronically by the fourth Friday in September.
Mentors will receive a prompt from the SFP Online system to approve the paper
online. November 1 is the deadline for approved final reports.
- Help the student prepare for the oral presentation, normally given during
the third week in August or on the third Saturday in October. An oral report
is a requirement for all the students in SFP-sponsored programs.
- Mentors/co-mentors are invited to introduce the student at the oral presentation.
We encourage lab groups to attend the presentation to support and encourage
the student!
- Contact the Student-Faculty Programs Office [Email us at sfp@caltech.edu or
call 626.395.2885] if administrative problems arise.
SFP Compensation
Students are paid $600/week by the program with which the student is affiliated.
Vacation Requests
Students may take vacation time during the summer with the approval of
the mentor; however, students must complete all 10 weeks of the program by
the fourth Friday in September.
Click here for Tips on Mentoring.
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