Cultivate an Effective and Culturally Responsive Mentoring Practice
Because effective mentoring skills are essential for creating welcoming and productive STEM research environments, ARMP provides sessions designed to support faculty and staff in their roles as research mentors.
What Is ARMP?
Advancing Research Mentoring Practice is an eight-hour facilitated discussion that uses an established curriculum aimed at reflecting on approaches to research mentoring.
What Is the Time Commitment?
The sessions are offered in 8-hour time blocks, most often in four 2-hour sessions. We offer two 4-hour sessions and one 8-hour session as well. Commitment to attend all 8 hours is required to build trust within a community of practitioners who learn from one another.
Who Is ARMP For?
WISCIENCE offers ARMP to any UW–Madison STEM faculty or staff member who mentors undergraduates, graduate students, postdoctoral trainees, and/or staff in a research setting. It is equally valuable for experienced mentors and those new to mentoring.
What's Expected of Me?
Because we aim to create a learning community of practitioners over the course of our conversations, building trust and honesty requires commitment to the group. As such, attendance and active participation is required for all sessions in order to maximize learning and thoughtful input.
There are some light readings and assignments but they are not time-intensive.
In ARMP, we share experiences and explore ways to align and communicate expectations, foster trainee independence and research self-efficacy, understand how social identities impact mentoring practices, and support mentee well-being. To do this we review sample mentor-mentee agreements, discuss ways to implement them, examine case studies that illustrate common challenges, and reflect on ways to improve your approaches to mentoring.
Whether you have been mentoring for thirty years or thirty days, everyone has something to gain from these discussions.
Strong mentorship has been linked to enhanced trainee productivity, sense of belonging, self-efficacy, likelihood to persist, career satisfaction, and is an important predictor of the academic success of scientists in training.
Entering Mentoring curricula series addresses guidelines identified by the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health in preparing mentees who are funded on training grants. It also follows the recommendation of the National Academies’ consensus report, The Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM, to use evidence-based mentor training.
These sessions create a community of practicing mentors in STEM at UW-Madison who are continually working to develop effective and culturally responsive mentoring skills.
Mentor Curricula and Training: Entering Mentoring
Our evidence-based curriculum, called Entering Mentoring, is for mentors of research trainees. It was developed for mentors across science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEM) disciplines at different career stages, working with undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty and staff.
The Entering Mentoring curricula series addresses the new NIGMS guidelines regarding the preparation of mentors involved in training grants and follows the National Academies’ consensus report, The Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM, recommendation to use an evidence-based training.
Themes and Concepts
Our mentor training curricula include the themes listed below. All of these themes are designed with the acknowledgment that mentorship occurs within a cultural context and is influenced by the cultural diversity and social identities of the individuals engaged in mentorship activities. Consistent with national data and evidence, this curriculum is designed and delivered with cultural diversity content throughout.
- Aligning Expectations
- Addressing Equity and Inclusion
- Articulating Your Mentoring Philosophy and Plan
- Assessing Understanding
- Cultivating Ethical Behavior
- Enhancing Work-Life Integration
- Fostering Independence
- Maintaining Effective Communication
- Promoting Mentee Research Self-Efficacy
- Promoting Professional Development
- Fostering Wellbeing
Am I eligible to participate?
If you are a faculty or staff member in STEM who serves as a research mentor at UW-Madison, registration for this professional development opportunity is open and at no cost to you.
As a new faculty member, I have little mentoring experience. Am I eligible to participate?
These sessions are facilitated discussions around mentoring. You will be placed in small groups with faculty and staff who have varying levels of mentoring experience. Everyone has something to gain from talking about mentoring practices with colleagues from across campus.
I have been mentoring for over fifteen years. What will I get out of participating?
Experienced mentors have conveyed that they have found these sessions to be extremely valuable and provide actionable strategies for their mentoring practice. They have also commented that sharing their mentoring experience with colleagues in this context is a rewarding experience.
Who facilitates the ARMP sessions?
Every ARMP session is co-facilitated by two trained facilitators, one or more of whom is a faculty member who shares their own mentoring experiences in the context of the Entering Mentoring curriculum.
When are the sessions offered during the year?
At least two four-day sessions are commonly offered each semester and early summer. There are one-day and two-day sessions that are also offered at the beginning and end of terms. All sessions are eight hours in total.
Can I still participate if I can’t make all of the sessions?
Because these sessions rely on developing a learning community, we require that everyone commit to attending all four sessions. If an unexpected conflict arises with a session’s scheduled time, please contact the facilitator or Nancy Ruggeri.
What is the time commitment outside of the in-person sessions?
Preparation for these sessions may include some light readings and brief assignments, but they are not time-intensive. You are expected to come to the sessions prepared to actively listen, reflect, and share your thoughts on mentoring.
If I don’t have time to commit to four two-hour sessions on mentoring, are there other ways I can participate?
Several times a year we will offer alternatives to the four two-hour structure, including all-day sessions and two four-hour sessions. If this better suits your schedule, please check our website for when these sessions are offered.
Are there any sessions offered online?
We currently do not offer any sessions online.
“I loved that our sessions were discussion-based and small-group oriented. I found it a great setting to think deeply, reflect, and consider other perspectives.”
“I learned so much in such a short period of time. These sessions dedicated time and practice in mentoring, not something that is normally stressed in our development as STEM researchers.”
“The seminar provided tangible strategies that I can immediately implement to improve my mentorship practices and effectiveness.”
“Regardless of how much mentoring experience one has, this is an extremely beneficial course and should be strongly considered by all.”
“I was exposed to scenarios that I had never thought about, and I feel more prepared to potentially handle those situations.”
“As a new faculty member, I really enjoyed hearing the views and experiences of more established faculty. There were both perspectives I agreed and disagreed with, but overall, I feel like I’m better informed as I start mentoring grad students and postdocs in my new lab.”
“The facilitators established an environment that made communication helpful and rewarding. It was wonderful to have a workshop type structure as opposed to lectures. I found the input from colleagues very useful.”
Upcoming ARMP Sessions
@ 8:30 am CST - 4:30 pm CST
445 Henry Mall, Room 117
Session Date: Thursday, January 15, 2026. Open to all faculty and staff.
@ 10:00 am CST - 12:00 pm CST
445 Henry Mall, Room 117
Session Dates: Fridays, Feb 6, 13, 20, and 27. Attendance at all four session dates is required. Open to all faculty and staff.
@ 1:00 pm CDT - 3:00 pm CDT
445 Henry Mall, Room 117
Session Dates: Mondays, April 6, 13, 20, and 27. Attendance at all four session dates is required. Open to all faculty and staff.
“The seminar provided tangible strategies that I can immediately implement to improve my mentorship practices and effectiveness.”
ARMP Participant, Spring 2024
About the Facilitators
Get to know some of the faculty who have gone through the Entering Mentoring curriculum and now facilitate Advancing Research Mentoring Practice.
Meet Christina Hull, ARMP Facilitator
"How are we going to make science more accessible? We're going to do that by changing the environment and culture, and by mentoring the whole trainee so that people can see themselves in this space and stay in the space."
Meet Beth Meyerand, ARMP Facilitator
"It is incredibly gratifying to hear from participants that what they learned in ARMP has made a tremendously positive impact in how they mentor—that the concepts they learned were totally new to them and are now indispensable."
Meet Darcie Moore, ARMP Facilitator
"Every time I facilitate ARMP, I get to review and remind myself of different aspects of mentoring to consider. I feel like I take something back to my lab with me from discussions with each cohort."
Interested in bringing this to your program or department?
Click below to request more information, or contact Nancy Ruggeri (nruggeri@wisc.edu) to learn more.
Contact
Nancy Ruggeri
Credentials: PhD
Position title: Director of Research Mentor and Mentee Education
Email:
nruggeri