Mentoring Working Group — August 2024 Update

Mentoring Working Group Update – August 2024

Meeting and Working Group Structure

Small groups were tasked with meeting on their own time prior to the large-group meeting. The whole Mentoring Working Group meets once a month. The agenda for the large-group meeting is set by the Working Group Facilitators. Prior to the large-group meeting, subgroups are tasked with completing a “Small Group Updates” document for the month so folks from other groups are able to review what everyone had been working on throughout the previous month.

During the first four months (January-April), subgroups were focused on content. At our April large-group meeting we created new subgroups focused on the structure and administration of the curriculum. We stayed in these new subgroups for three months (May-July). In July we created a curriculum template, so we reconvened into our content groups in August to begin populating the content.

Experts and Outside Consultants

We acknowledge that we are not experts in curriculum development or mentorship training. We contracted two experts from the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER) to help us with this project – Melissa McDaniels, PhD, and Stephanie House, MA. Melissa was brought on as a member of the Experts Committee for ROOT & SHOOT, giving her the flexibility to advise us on other projects and integration with the larger ROOT & SHOOT grant, and Stephanie was contracted directly through CIMER to work with us specifically on the Mentoring Working Group.

Alpha and Beta Testers

Our original timeline has shifted considerably; our initial goal was to do a full launch of this program in the fall of 2024, however we wanted to ensure that we were putting out a tested and polished curriculum. We have now decided to do an Alpha test from October-February where we will analyze the curriculum in smaller chunks. In the spring of next year, we’ll begin a more in-depth Beta-testing with volunteers from outside of the Mentoring Working Group. We will provide stipends for their time. They will run through the full course as intended and provide the Working Group and Facilitators with in-depth feedback on how to improve the curriculum. We will fine-tune the course throughout the summer based on this feedback and launch a final version to the public in the fall of 2025.

Project Timeline

February

• Small groups met on their own time and identified the scope of their subgroup. They created a list of topics, started a resource list, and identified potential experts.
• During our large-group meeting, we went through questions the group were working to resolve and areas of overlap with other groups. We also reflected on the process – any larger issues to resolve so far or proposed changes to suggest?

March

• Small groups continued to meet to revise the subgroup in light of the February large-group discussion. They continued to add to the list of topics and resources.
• During our large group meeting, small groups reported on their progress. We also introduced a jamboard to brainstorm topics for the second round of small groups on the structure and administration of the training. Details about stipends and bringing on experts and consultants were discussed.

April

• Small groups were tasked with asked to prioritize their content and create a list of learning objectives for their sections.
• During our large group meeting, we revisited the shape and structure of the curriculum. We discussed specific content and administration requests from content subgroups. The group then self-selected into various breakout groups to discuss the scope of each structure/admin subgroup.

May

• Final assignments for the structure subgroups were made. During the small group meeting, working group members met with their new groups and discussed the scope of their group.
• The May large-group meeting was devoted to discussing the overall structure of the curriculum and specific questions pertaining to audience, recruitment, and the logistics of housing and implementing the curriculum.

June & July

• We contracted two experts from CIMER to help us with this project: Melissa McDaniels, PhD, and Stephanie House, MA.
• Melissa McDaniels met with Structure Group A to help put together a curriculum template.
• During our large group meeting, the curriculum template was presented. The group agreed on the overall structure of the course: six weeks of content with synchronous and asynchronous components, a three-week break for reflection, then another three weeks for co-work.

August

• Small groups were tasked with filling in the curriculum template, which includes information like the amount of pre-work required, synchronous session learning objectives, session activities, learning objectives, and materials needed.
• During the large-group meeting, we discussed building a more fleshed-out facilitator guide for each week, which the group will fill in before our next meeting in September.