Faculty Mentor Training

The project is recruiting four (4) STEM faculty each from PCC and from UAZ to mentor a maximum caseload of 8-9 promising STEM students. PCC faculty will mentor students during their last year at PCC. UAZ faculty will mentor PCC students during that same time period and during the first year after they transfer.

Faculty are recruited to mentor students in the following areas:

  • Exploring STEM careers
  • Finding and competing for research experiences relevant to their true interests
  • Navigating the STEM culture
  • Succeeding in STEM courses
  • Overcoming challenges
  • Building their self-confidence to persist
  • Balancing work, family, and school responsibilities

Benefits for you as a mentor:

  • Develop or strengthen your mentoring skills in a way that helps students feel welcomed, accepted, and encouraged
  • Participate in professional development sessions led by experts on culturally responsive and asset-based mentoring.
  • Meet monthly with fellow mentors in a Community of Practice to learn from each other’s experiences and receive ongoing feedback to reinforce key learnings from the professional development sessions.
  • Earn a stipend of ~$3600 - $4000 (depending on hours committed).

Our PI, Dr. Regina Deil-Amen, from the UArizona College of Education will lead focus groups with the faculty mentors to assess your response to the shift in the mentoring paradigm, your sense of its effectiveness, and the benefits and challenges it poses. Dr. Deil-Amen will be conducting education research on the following research questions:

  • What key components contribute to the development of a culturally responsive Community of Practice (CRCP) to transform the approach of STEM faculty across a community college and university context?
  • How can a CRCP improve students’ experiences with the culture of STEM and bridge the gap between the STEM ecosystems at 2- and 4-year HSIs for students transferring into STEM majors, including fostering an enhanced STEM identity and sense of belonging?

The project will use the Multidisciplinary Research Mentor Training Seminar module from CIMER (Center for Improvement of Mentoring Experiences in Research) and resources from the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN). We will augment the training by providing additional information on the topic of prosocial cultural values, where underrepresented students assign value to tasks and careers that afford opportunities to help others or their communities (Jackson et al., 2016).

All mentors will also be asked to read Chapter 6 (“Difficult Mentoring Moments: Framing Messages to Improve Impact”) from Becky Wai-Ling Packard’s book Successful STEM Mentoring Initiatives for Underrepresented Students, A Research-Based Guide for Faculty and Administrators (2016) to better understand how to handle difficult mentor questions and incidents involving micro-aggressions.

UAZ FACULTY; when PCC students begin the program:

  • Late summer
    • Attend a pre-training focus group meeting and attend mentor training sessions totaling ~ 15 hours. (Structure and schedule for the meetings is flexible and will be based on input from mentors.)
  • First fall semester
    • Attend 4 monthly CRCP meetings, meet one-on-one (1:1) twice with your PCC mentees, and serve on a career panel
  • The following spring semester
    • Attend 4 monthly CRCP meetings, meet 1:1 twice with your PCC mentees, serve as a guest speaker, and attend a focus group meeting at the end of the semester.
  • Second fall semester
    • Attend one follow-up CRCP meeting

UAZ FACULTY; for PCC student post transfer:

  • Second fall semester
    • Meet 1:1 twice with your mentee group after transferring to UAZ and attend a follow-up CRCP meeting
  • Next spring semester
    • Meet 1:1 twice with your mentee group and attend a focus group meeting at the end of the semester

PCC mentors will be compensated for trainings, meetings, and program activities during academic year 2021-2022 and a 2-hour follow-up meeting in fall 2022 at your supplemental compensation rate. 

UAZ mentors work with mentees for two years and will be compensated for trainings, meetings, and program activities during 2021-2022, a 2-hour follow-up meeting in fall 2022, your academic year 2022-2023 mentee meetings, and a spring 2022 focus group meeting at your supplemental compensation rate. 

  • Research and teaching faculty as well as post docs at the University of Arizona or Pima Community College
  • Must be teaching or conducting research in STEM fields
  • Preferred STEM fields for faculty are: biological sciences, physical sciences, mathematical sciences, computer and information sciences, geosciences-related, and engineering.

We are no longer accepting applications.