Required Elements

Developing a Mentorship Agreement

Required Elements

This page describes important considerations and provides sample text to assist in the preparation of a mentorship agreement. Feel free to use the provided examples or craft your own content. While this page only addresses the elements required by the College of Science, please be aware that your department may have additional requirements. Furthermore, you or your students may want to include additional provisions in your mentorship agreements to address specific needs or concerns.

Expectations for Faculty

Things to consider: 

  • Recognize there is a significant power imbalance between faculty and students.
  • A critical aspect of the faculty mentoring role is to help students achieve their educational goals rather than simply working to accomplish your specific research or teaching goals. 
Ex
Mentorship Role“I agree to provide guidance, support, and advice to support your academic pursuits and career development. I will assist in setting and achieving specific goals related to your graduate program and to your long-term professional aspirations.”
Ex
Regular Meeting Time  “We will schedule weekly one-on-one meetings to review research progress and to discuss other issues that either one of us want to discuss.”
Ex
Manuscript Turnaround “When you provide me with a draft manuscript, I will make every effort to respond in a timely manner. My commitment is to provide you with a meaningful response within 1 week.”
Ex
Research and Funding Support  “You can expect my best efforts to provide research equipment, supplies, resources, etc. to support your research. You will receive a monthly stipend that is intended to allow you to focus on your research program. The stipend will come from a combination of research and teaching assistantships, depending on availability and research productivity. We will discuss the source of funding and sign a support agreement prior to each semester.”
Ex
Building Professional Networks  “As you progress in your research program, I am committed to assisting you in building a strong professional network. I will provide guidance, share connections, and offer opportunities for you to engage with others through workshops, seminars, conferences, and other relevant events. I strongly encourage you to regularly discuss your future career goals with me, as it will allow me to better customize networking opportunities to align with your specific needs. Together, we will work towards expanding your network and enhancing your professional development.”

 

Expectations for Students

Things to consider: 

  • Graduate student expectations are very different from undergraduate expectations. Success in graduate school requires effort in coursework and research. There also may be teaching responsibilities. Balancing these competing expectations can be a significant challenge for a student.
  • Each faculty mentor may approach expected work hours differently. Some may require specific hours each day while others may emphasize productivity over hours.
  • Recognize that a faculty mentor does not “own” a graduate student’s time outside of normal work hours. Work outside normal hours may be needed to ensure the success of a project or to complete a project in a reasonable timeframe. At the same time, students should have protected personal time.
Ex
(Hands-Off approach) “You are welcome to work flexibly for any reason. Ideally, you will schedule at least a few hours each week to overlap with my presence, to stay in touch with any challenges or successes. Howerer, it is the policy of our research group that every member is already self-motivated and doesn't need to work a traditional 9-to-5 day to meet their goals.” 
Ex
(Slightly more prescriptive) “Research productivity is not just a function of hours in the lab. It also includes careful planning and good time management. Recognize that a 40-hour work week is often insufficient to reach the level of productivity required for a successful PhD. I generally don’t require specific hours as long as you are demonstrating productivity each week. I also expect that you will be in the lab during a significant portion of normal working hours (M-F 9am-5pm) to ensure overlap with me and other group members.”

 

Teaching Assistants vs. Research Assistants

Things to consider: 

  • A full TA position requires up to 20 hours/week. The major professor cannot expect the same level of productivity or hours working on research from a TA as they would from an RA. It is also not appropriate to expect all TA  responsibilities be handled “after hours.” 
Ex
“Depending on available funding or other circumstances, you may be supported through a teaching assistantship (TA) or a research assistantship (RA). If working as a TA, it is expected that you fulfill your teaching responsibilities as required by the instructor. It is also expected that you continue to make research progress as a TA. However, it is understood that TA responsibilities will take away from research time.”

Time Off: Vacation & USU Holidays 

Things to consider: 

  • How much vacation time/year is appropriate?
  • How much notice does the student need to give the major professor before taking vacation?
  • Upcoming deadlines may be considered when deciding if vacation is appropriate, especially on short notice.
  • There is a difference between an academic holiday (fall break, spring break, etc.) and an official university holiday (Christmas, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, etc.).
  • Academic holidays refer to class schedules. University holidays refer to official university closure. There are also occasional university closures due to severe weather or other emergencies.
  • It may be appropriate to expect students to work on research or attend group meetings during academic holidays. However, university holidays should be respected.
Ex
“It is important to maintain a healthy work-life balance and I encourage you to take vacation time each year. It would be appropriate to take up to 3 weeks/year. However, I generally expect at least one month's notice before taking a planned vacation. I also expect consideration of upcoming grants, conferences, and other deadlines when planning vacation. There is a difference between academic holidays and official university holidays. Academic holidays (fall break, spring break, etc.) are breaks from classes, but are not guaranteed breaks from research. If you wish to take a vacation on those days, please treat it as vacation time and talk to me in advance. Official university holidays are days when the university will be closed. You are generally not expected to work on those days, unless there is an emergency. We will not hold group meetings on university holidays.” 

Authorship

Things to consider: 

  • How will you determine authorship on a manuscript?
  • What is the process for determining authorship order when multiple authors are involved?
Ex
“Publishing your research is an important component of your academic training and is critical for a career in research. The work in our research group is inherently collaborative, and so it is important to understand how authorship will be determined.  My expectation for authorship includes significant contributions to the research project.
This may include:
      - Conception and design of the research study
      - Acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data
      - Drafting or critical revision of the manuscript
Providing general support or routine technical assistance generally does not merit authorship.
To ensure fairness and transparency, we will maintain open and ongoing communication throughout the research project to assess individual contributions. Authorship order will reflect the relative contributions of each individual to the research project. For first-author designation, I expect you to take the lead in experimental design, execution, and writing of the manuscript.”

 

Data Management and Ownership

Things to consider: 

  • The USU policy on Research Data is Policy 588.
  • The Principal Investigator is generally responsible for data management associated with a project. How will experimental data be recorded and preserved?
Ex
“All experimental data will be recorded promptly in a lab notebook. Please provide enough clarity that any member of the lab could reproduce the experiment. Lab notebooks are the property of the lab and should be accessible to all members of the research group. Notebooks should not be taken home or removed from the lab.”

 

Strategy for Resolving Disputes

Things to consider: 

  • When conflicts arise, faculty and students each have a responsibility to work together to find a resolution. If a satisfactory resolution is not achieved, the student can request assistance from (generally in this order):
    1. Other members of the student’s graduate committee
    2. Department head
    3. College dean/associate dean for graduate studies
    4. Vice-provost of graduate studies
Ex
“Both of us will make a good faith effort to resolve any disputes that may arise. If needed, either one of us may request advice or assistance from other members of the student’s graduate committee and/or department head. In extreme cases, the College of Science dean, associate dean for graduate studies, or vice-provost of graduate studies may be consulted.”

 

Communication Plan

Things to consider: 

  • What is your preferred method of communication? Email? Text? Is communication over social media appropriate?
  • What is the expected response time?
Ex
“Written communication will normally be done by email, so please check and respond to your email regularly (multiple times a day during normal working hours). I am also happy to communicate by text, especially when time is of the essence. We are each welcome to send work-related emails or requests over the weekend or late at night. I will make my best effort to respond promptly, but neither of us is required to reply outside of typical work hours (9am to 5pm, weekdays).”