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STAR Faculty Mentor Requirements

STAR Faculty Mentor Requirements

Faculty from within the School of Veterinary Medicine, the School of Medicine, College of Biological Sciences, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and College of Engineering are eligible to serve as mentors for student Scholars. While serving as mentors, they are expected to fulfill certain criteria.

Along the guidelines of the American Physiological Society, a successful mentor is "one who engages in a dynamic process whereby mentor and mentee both learn to respect and trust each others commitment, expertise, and individuality". To sign up as a mentor, a faculty member must commit to the mentoring process and be willing to invest time, energy and resources into the relationship. The text of the relationship can be difficult to define, because mentoring is in many ways an elusive concept and an individual process. However, a mentor must possess the following characteristics:

  • Be a faculty member in the School of Veterinary Medicine,School of Medicine, College of Biological Sciences, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences and College of Engineering

  • Be actively engaged in research

  • Provide adequate funding to support the student's entire 10 week research project expenses, including research supplies, etc.

  • Be available throughout the summer for the student and attend student/mentor activities, including the STARs in Science poster session in late August.

  • Possess the expertise in the subject of the research proposal

  • Agree to ensure the student fulfills his or her conditions of award

  • Commit to active engagement with their students throughout the summer

  • Plan to attend a one hour mentoring workshop if you have not been a STAR mentor before (note, this is strongly recommended, but not required).

Becoming a STAR Mentor

Faculty in the School of Veterinary Medicine, the School of Medicine, College of Biological Sciences, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and College of Engineering who are interested and eligible to act as a mentor are asked to provide a brief paragraph describing their background, research interests, and other pertinent information. This information will assist students who have not yet selected a faculty mentor.

If you are interested in becoming a STAR mentor, please contact us at svmstarprogram@ucdavis.edu.