VT Mentoring Forum

Effective mentoring requires courage, compassion, and clarity. Yet many mentors hesitate to offer direct feedback, fearing it may come across as harsh or discouraging. In this session, participants will explore the concept of radical candor—a mentoring approach that combines caring personally with challenging directly. When mentors are both honest and kind, they help their mentees grow, build confidence, and avoid avoidable pitfalls.

Through discussion and short practice activities, we will unpack common barriers to giving candid feedback and reframe direct communication as a powerful act of care. Participants will learn strategies for balancing empathy and honesty, phrasing feedback that builds trust, and recognizing when indirect communication may unintentionally hinder growth. The session will model a supportive learning environment that reflects the very principles of radical candor—respect, transparency, and genuine investment in others’ success.

Led by: Dr. Kim Allen, Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs, Virginia Tech Leadership Programs

We have taught large scale courses for graduate students with one of the learning outcomes centered around improving mentoring relationships. A critical and often overlooked component of successful mentoring experiences is mentee effectiveness behaviors, particularly in faculty-graduate student advising relationships. Therefore, in this session, we will discuss the content we teach students about mentee effectiveness and share post-pre outcomes from our classes (n=156) in the College of Engineering and College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Specifically, we will identify areas where students excelled and areas of need for continued growth after the training, as well as the importance of aligning student expectations with advisor expectations through intentional meetings. We will share quantitative and qualitative findings from our survey, which utilized the Mentee Competency Self-Assessment (MCSA-22).

Our findings showed a statistically significant increase in self-reported skill on all mentee effectiveness dimensions following the training. Further, we observed that students perceived the most improvement in setting research goals, aligning expectations, acknowledging different mentor/mentee backgrounds, and accounting for bias and prejudices. We observed that students perceived the most need for growth in motivating themselves. The findings also demonstrated that in-person training on mentoring was slightly more effective than the online modality, particularly for items related to work-life integration and fostering growth/confidence.

In addition to details of these findings with qualitative comments and examples from students, we will share relevant resources from our courses that can be used to align expectations and improve communication in faculty-graduate student mentoring relationships.

Presented by:

Susan Sajadi, College of Engineering
Susan Sajadi is an Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech in the Department of Engineering Education. She earned a Ph.D. in Engineering Education Systems and Design from Arizona State University. She also has a B.S.E. and M.S. in Biomedical Engineering and previously worked as a biomedical engineer. In addition, Susan has experience working in STEM education, humanitarian engineering, and corporate social responsibility. Susan has taught about mentorship to graduate students, reaching over 1,000 students at Virginia Tech. She has studied the development of professional skills among engineering students.

Hannah Sunderman, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Hannah Sunderman is an Assistant Professor of Adaptive and Organizational Leadership at Virginia Tech in the Department of Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education. She earned a Ph.D. in Human Sciences-Leadership, a M.S. in Leadership Education, and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Prior to joining the faculty at Virginia Tech, Hannah was the Program Director of a large, youth leadership mentoring non-profit organization. Hannah has extensive experience developing and evaluating mentoring program outcomes and curriculum, including co-editing a symposium on mentoring in higher education for the Journal of Leadership Studies.

Undergraduate research is becoming increasingly popular within higher education, as it provides students with opportunities to engage with groundbreaking research in their field and develop transferable skills. Despite growing engagement and interest in undergraduate research experiences, little research has examined the role of mentorship within those experiences. During this panel, three faculty members, one specializing in agricultural education and two specializing in leadership education, will share their best practices and learned lessons from their experiences mentoring undergraduate research assistants (URAs) within their discipline. This panel will be moderated by two doctoral students at Virginia Tech with experience working with URAs in their field.

This panel is a part of a larger project that aims to understand the impact of undergraduate research from the URA’s perspective. The practices and lessons learned will be shared during the panel session, grounded in findings from the larger study. The findings emphasize how faculty mentorship fosters students’ sense of community, psychological safety, and ownership of the project, further demonstrating that through positive mentorship, students’ understanding of the research process and development of research skills, communication abilities, and ethical research practices is enhanced. By highlighting the experiences of current and past URAs in agricultural and leadership education, this session will help attendees better understand how intentional mentorship cultivates belonging, promotes an interdisciplinary educational experience, and strengthens pathways for career development and continued education.

Led by: 

Ashlee P. Sullivan, Doctoral Student, ALCE

Abby Cheng, Doctoral Student, ALCE

Panelists: 

Hannah Sunderman, Assistant Professor, ALCE

Kate McCain, Collegiate Assistant Professor, ALCE

Brett Milliken, Collegiate Assistant Professor, ALCE

This session will focus on the development of a mentoring circle as a strategic response to needs identified by VT women in Roanoke, which highlighted strong interest in mentoring at all levels—faculty, staff, and students. To foster an inclusive environment for meaningful, mutually beneficial relationships across diverse roles and functions, the mentoring circle model was selected as an effective and scalable approach.

To provide focus for piloting the model, the initial mentoring circle was co-led by the presenters and centered on Professional Development and Career Progression. Unlike traditional one-to-one mentoring relationships, mentoring circles emphasize shared leadership, collective learning, and group engagement. This model maximizes time and availability while creating multiple points of connection, allowing participants to both offer and receive insight. The session will explore how mentoring circles encourage dynamic interactions, broaden perspectives, and promote peer-to-peer learning alongside guidance from more experienced professionals.

The mentoring circle was initiated through the Roanoke VT Women Connect which was established in fall 2023 to complement existing VT Women Connect programs on the main campus. Programming is open to anyone at Fralin Biomedical Research Institute (FBRI), Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine (VTCSOM), and the Roanoke Higher Education Center.

Lead by:

Leanna Blevins is the Associate Vice President of Health Sciences Academic Affairs and co-director of the Integrated Health Sciences and Research program at Fralin Biomedical Research Institute, affiliate faculty in Population Health Sciences. She is a Trained Facilitator in Entering Mentoring from the Institute for Clinical and Translational Research located at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She led the iTHRIV Monthly Mentoring Hour, part of a multi-institution CTSA grant from the NIH focused on early-career faculty development. She is the state chair of the American Council on Education’s Virginia Network of Women in Higher Education where she oversees an interprofessional mentoring program for women leaders across the Commonwealth. She has mentored many trainees and professionals in academic career development.

This workshop introduces academic faculty and administrators to the principles and practices of mentoring within graduate education within the context of Virginia Tech’s Equity in Graduate Education (EGE) program. The EGE program aims to improve mentoring quality across the graduate experience. Drawing on concepts from the EGE learning communities, the workshop clarifies distinctions among advising, supervision, sponsorship, and mentoring, emphasizing that mentoring is a relational, developmental partnership focused on student growth for its own sake. This workshop highlights research-supported benefits of effective mentoring - such as sense of belonging, academic and career efficacy, reduced stress, scholarly identity development, and improved performance. The workshop underscores the importance of cultural responsiveness and attention to mentors’ and mentees’ social identities, noting how identity salience shapes academic experiences and mentoring needs. It also explains that mentoring requires shifts in mindset and behavior, including providing psychological support, role modeling, and instrumental career guidance. The Sanford (1967) challenge-support model is introduced to illustrate how balancing high expectations with appropriate support fosters maximum growth. A central theme is the value of mentoring agreements (or compacts) in preventing misaligned expectations, which is a primary source of dissatisfaction for both students and faculty. The workshop outlines steps for creating such agreements, explores example models, and offers multiple approaches ranging from adapting existing templates to crafting new documents from scratch. Participants who are using mentoring agreements are encouraged to design them in a way that centers transparency and shared responsibility, and to revisit the agreements regularly with their research groups.

Led by:

D. Sarah Stamps, Department of Geosciences.
Virginia Tech Department of Geosciences EGE Liaison, Mentored 12 graduate students (4 continuing), 33 undergraduate researchers (2 continuing), 1 postdoctoral scholar, and 1 visiting researcher as an Associate Professor of Geophysics 

Higher education is being challenged to validate itself as a worthwhile investment for students. Arguably, the most important outcome from a four-year undergraduate degree is a student’s ability to successfully find their place in the world following graduation, whether that is at work or continuing education. To prepare students, we develop curricula to ensure disciplinary knowledge and complement coursework with valuable experiential learning opportunities, such as undergraduate research. Despite this, some students still feel unprepared or uncertain about taking their next step. One way to address this gap is to help students recognize and articulate transferable skills, or career competencies, that they have developed throughout their education, so that they can more confidently secure post-graduation opportunities. But how can we, as educators, do this?

Faculty from across disciplines are invited to join this interactive workshop to explore the value of undergraduate research and other experiential learning as a set of experiences where students build essential career readiness skills. Using the Virginia Tech and NACE career competencies as a guiding framework, faculty will have an opportunity to identify specific activities within their purview that help to develop and build these competencies for students. By explicitly making these connections, faculty will be well positioned to guide students during these experiences, providing them with the language and understanding of how their activities translate to the top competencies employers and graduate schools seek.

Presented by:

Keri Swaby, Office of Undergraduate Experiential Education

Keri Swaby serves as the Assistant Vice Provost for Undergraduate Experiential Education, with oversight for the Academy for Experiential Learning and Office of Undergraduate Research. In this role, she supports Virginia Tech’s current Quality Enhancement Project aimed at embedding career bridging experiential learning into the curriculum. Keri leads a working group on Connecting the Undergraduate Research Experience, with a focus on helping students to connect the dots by recognizing and articulating the career competencies they gain throughout their undergraduate career, particularly through experiential learning. As Director for the Office of Undergraduate Research, Keri also co-facilitates several workshops annually that support faculty mentoring of undergraduate researchers.

Amanda MacDonald, University Libraries

Amanda MacDonald is the Assistant Director of Undergraduate Research Initiatives in the University Libraries and serves as the liaison to the Honors College, the Office of Undergraduate Research, and the Department of Human Development. Amanda is dedicated to supporting students’ undergraduate research endeavors and serves on the Office of Undergraduate Research Advisory Board. At the national level, Amanda is an active member of the Council on Undergraduate Research’s (CUR’s) Career Readiness Resource Development Working Group, which has recently conducted a language and skills mapping exercise to align the learning benefits and skill development gained through mentored undergraduate research with the NACE competencies. With strong partnership with the Office of Undergraduate Research, Amanda also co-facilitates several workshops annually that support faculty mentoring of undergraduate researchers.

Mentoring is a powerful yet often underutilized strategy for supporting professional growth, instructional excellence, and faculty retention within universities. For adjunct faculty in particular, intentional mentoring can strengthen engagement, foster belonging, and support long-term success - both for individuals and for departments seeking instructional continuity and talent development.

This interactive session introduces a mentoring mindset and practical framework designed to support adjunct faculty as an essential part of the instructional community. Participants will explore the Adjunct Faculty Mentoring Program developed through the Faculty Innovation Grant initiative and examine how mentoring can move beyond informal support to become a structured, sustainable, and high-impact practice within a university setting.

The session will highlight the why, what, and how of effective mentoring, including the roles of clarity, trust, goal-setting, and feedback in fostering growth-focused mentoring relationships. Participants will then explore a flexible adjunct faculty mentoring framework, including mentor preparation, guiding resources, and an implementation approach that departments can adapt to align with local needs, culture, and capacity.

Led by

Wendy Glass, Adjunct Faculty, Management Department, Pamplin College of Business

Wendy is an Adjunct Professor of Practice at Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business. With nearly two decades of experience leading talent strategies across diverse industries, Wendy has extensive experience identifying opportunities to elevate talent attraction and retention priorities. She has implemented evidence-based people programs, such as mentoring for new team members at organizations ranging from Fortune 100s to small and medium-sized businesses. Wendy holds the credentials of SHRM-Senior Consulting Professional and Certified Executive Coach and was a key member of the project team who designed Virginia Tech's Adjunct Faculty Mentoring program.

Hannah Harris, Associate Director for Professional Development, CETL

Hannah serves in Virginia Tech’s Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning as the Associate Director for Professional Development.  She supports the Center’s mission by curating professional development opportunities, including individual consultations, workshops, and institutes focused on adjunct and early career teaching faculty. She has participated as a mentee and mentor in the teaching and learning context over the course of her career.

The Department of Chemistry has entered a multi-year project where we are revamping/revitalizing mentoring across all constituent groups (undergraduate students, graduate students, postdocs, asst. prof., and associate professors). We do so through a rotating working group that focuses on one group each year. The focus of 2024-25 was undergraduate students and the focus of the 2025-26 group is graduate students. Given the timing of the forum, we present our completed work from the prior year's group and the preliminary work of the group from this year. The session provides information on each component of the process - data gathering, initiative proposal, and initiative implementation.

Presented by

Amanda Morris - Department Chair of Chemistry

Emily Mevers - Asst. Prof., Department of Chemistry, Chair Mentoring Working Group (Undergraduates)

Adrian Figg - Asst. Prof., Department of Chemistry, Chair Mentoring Working Group (Graduates)

Mentoring as a learning partnership embeds evidence-supported strategies. A mentoring for wellbeing framework combined Kram and Seligman’s theories in the presenter/faculty mentor’s self-initiated doctoral intervention. Known as the Thesis Gurus Doctoral Mentoring Group, this online networked initiative was developed to cultivate mentees’ progress and flourishing. The initiative’s structures and processes will be explained, along with its specific strategies, applications, outcomes, and assessments. Lessons will be drawn for effectively mentoring doctoral candidates in networked distance learning environments. This academic mentoring support structure has been functioning for over 4 years in the educational leadership program. Learning outcomes are multiple. The mentoring strategies are aligned with proven practices in research on mentoring networks. The mentoring relationships are inclusive and supportive, and psychosocial and career development are another benefit. Furthermore, mentoring across the career trajectory is extended into the postgraduate phase, and tools and technologies are invaluable for enhancing learning experiences. Attendees will learn about this mentoring for wellbeing network, and the structures and processes that configure it. This online mentoring experience fosters co-curricular and postgraduate development, wellbeing, success, and leadership impact with part-time graduate students (school leaders). The mentoring phases of initiation, cultivation, graduation, and independence/interdependence undergird this intervention. The success of these efforts is evident in the mentee milestones (e.g., publications, presentations, networks, promotions) reached in the areas of research, career, and program and high completion rate, demonstrating measurably positive outcomes. Mentoring strategies enhance the Thesis Gurus’ online learning both individually and collectively based on the mentees’ assessments of this informal intervention.

Led by

Carol A. Mullen, Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, School of Education, College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, Virginia Tech. Bio: As doctoral chair, Dr. Carol A. Mullen has completed 42 Ph.D./Ed.D. dissertations, serving on another 53 doctoral committees as a member. Currently, she is mentoring eight doctoral students. She has designed mentoring programs for professional organizations and universities. Her books on mentoring include Equity in School Mentoring and Induction (Springer, 2025) and SAGE Handbook of Mentoring and Coaching in Education (Sage, 2012). She is the 2016 Jay D. Scribner Mentoring Award and the 2022 Master Professor Award recipient from the University Council for Educational Administration. She is also past-president of three national organizations. The Mentoring Conference in Albuquerque featured her as a speaker in 2025.

Psychological safety is a relatively understudied concept in graduate education, especially in engineering. Despite this, psychological safety may provide a lens through which to better support graduate students’ success by fostering creativity, innovation, self-advocacy, and supporting mental health. Psychological safety refers to people feeling safe to be themselves and express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas without fear of negative consequences, rejection, or humiliation. Advisors play a crucial role in the development of psychological safety for engineering doctoral students, as research shows that leaders can play a mediating role in building psychologically safe environments. This special session uses composite student narratives, think-pair-share, and personal reflection to teach participants the basic concepts of psychological safety and steps they can take in fostering psychologically safe environments in their own advising relationships. The goal of this session is to help advisors more deeply understand the concept of psychological safety, how it forms in advising relationships, and how it impacts graduate student experiences. By teaching advisors how to use a lens of psychological safety, we hope that faculty advisors will be better equipped to support students of diverse backgrounds, foster mental health, and ultimately lead to more successful graduate student outcomes.

Led by

Mark Huerta is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. He earned his Ph.D. in Engineering Education Systems & Design at Arizona State University and has a B.S./M.S. in Biomedical Engineering. His research interests include graduate student mentorship, faculty development, mental health and well-being, teamwork and group dynamics, and the design of project-based learning classes.

Larkin Martini is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. She received her B.S. in Geological Engineering and M.S. in Humanitarian Engineering and Science from Colorado School of Mines. Her research interests include neurodivergence in engineering, psychological safety, corporate social responsibility, and creative pedagogy.

Onboarding is evolving—and so is mentoring. This case study tells the story of how Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) is shifting from a one-size-fits-all model to a flexible, network-based approach that adapts to each new hire’s unique starting point. By blending individualized mentorship with a curated support network, our goal is an onboarding experience that fosters belonging, accelerates learning, and builds resilience. This presentation will share the journey, the challenges, and the wins, of creating an adaptive mentoring system. Attendees will gain insights into how tailoring mentorship and leveraging networks can create a more inclusive and effective onboarding experience.

Presented by

Bethany Eigel is part of the Learning & Organizational Development unit within Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE), the outreach arm of Virginia’s two land grant universities, Virginia Tech and Virginia State University. As the Associate Specialist for Employee Development, Bethany supports professional development and training opportunities for VCE employees across the commonwealth in 107 local offices, 11 Agricultural Research & Extension Centers, and 6 4-H Educational Centers. Onboarding for new employees is a significant part of this professional development which includes developing and supporting mentorship for new hires and creating a culture of networks to help develop each new employee.

This session will examine the early development of the NextGen Pamplin Faculty Mentoring Initiative, an effort designed to strengthen research productivity and support for pretenured faculty in the Pamplin College of Business. As the college works toward its ambitious goal of reaching the Top 60 in the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) Business School Research Rankings within the next three years, cultivating a robust faculty mentoring culture has become a strategic priority. Pretenured faculty represent a key population in this mentoring effort— they have strong incentives to publish due to promotion and tenure expectations, and their early research success significantly shapes both the college’s reputation and its long-term scholarly culture. Faculty mentoring will help Pamplin address the individual and collective research needs of pretenured faculty, while supporting their overall success and well-being.  

This presentation will take participants through the college’s journey—from using data-driven insights to understand mentoring needs and capacity, to determining approaches for implementing a mentoring initiative that is still evolving. The session will highlight lessons learned, early successes, challenges, and unexpected findings encountered in the development phase.

Participants will learn how adopting a “progress over perfection” mindset supports the creation and growth of faculty mentoring structures, even when not all elements are fully formed. Strategies for engaging faculty, administrators, and mentors during the early stages will be explored as ways to build buy-in and momentum.

A guided reflective activity will help participants identify which insights are most applicable to their own contexts and clarify next steps for developing or enhancing their mentoring plans.

Presented by

Dr. Janice Branch Hall, Director of Organizational Strategy, Pamplin College of Business

As the Director of Organizational Strategy for the Pamplin College of Business, Dr. Janice Branch Hall leads college-wide efforts to advance academic excellence, strengthen organizational effectiveness, and ensure alignment with institutional priorities and accreditation standards. A central focus of Dr. Hall’s portfolio is supporting the cultivation of a thriving faculty experience through the design, enhancement, and assessment of faculty mentoring initiatives. Dr. Hall collaborates with Pamplin’s leadership team to build a comprehensive faculty development framework where mentoring initiatives, guided orientation and onboarding experiences, and development programs expand faculty support and success.

With extensive experience in organizational strategy, change management, and stakeholder engagement, Dr. Janice Branch Hall is committed to supporting the college’s mission through thoughtful planning, inclusive collaboration, and evidence-based leadership. Dr. Hall has over 15 years of increasing leadership experience in higher education, most recently holding the position of Associate Dean of Transformation. 

In Fall 2025, the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine (VTCSOM) Office of Educational Affairs launched a structured, cross-unit mentoring initiative for mid-level Administrative/Professional faculty (i.e., coordinators, managers, and directors) designed to enhance core capabilities, improve operational effectiveness, and support a sustainable, mission-aligned learning culture. Informed by institutional climate and needs assessment data, and grounded in evidence-based professional development principles, the program intentionally rethinks traditional mentoring by pairing participants across organizational units, rather than within reporting or disciplinary silos.

The initiative emphasizes development over evaluation and is supported by a clear mentoring compact, defined ethical boundaries, and a sustainable cadence of monthly 30-minute meetings. Using the 70/20/10 learning framework, mentors and mentees co-create two to three development goals and engage in reflection, experimentation, and skill transfer embedded in daily work. A structured orientation anchored the program by clarifying expectations, supporting participant readiness, and reinforcing psychological safety.

This case study examines the program’s conceptual foundation, design choices, and early lessons from mid-cycle implementation. Presenters will discuss the co-created design process, the 70/20/10 framework, orientation and programmatic materials, matching process, and the mentor–mentee boundary scope.

Participants will leave with adaptable frameworks and concrete resources for designing or refining mentoring programs in academic settings, including strategies for cross-unit pairing, participant orientation, boundary-setting, and alignment with broader professional development goals.

Presented by

Lee Rakes, Ph.D.

Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine

Senior Director of Educational Affairs

As Senior Director of Educational Affairs at Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine (VTCSOM), Dr. Lee Rakes facilitates collaboration and drives operational improvements across diverse, cross-functional teams. He assesses strategic and operational needs for ongoing educational initiatives, provides direction and planning support, and helps shape the long-term strategy for VTCSOM’s education mission. He holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction (Educational Psychology specialization), M.S.Ed. in Health Promotion, and a B.S. in Psychology, all from Virginia Tech. Prior to his role at VTCSOM, he served for more than a decade as the Director of Institutional Effectiveness at the Virginia Military Institute.

Alaina Guerry, M.A.

Manager, Office of Educational Affairs

Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine

Ms. Guerry is the Office of Educational Affairs Manager at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, where she supports the strategic implementation of the medical education curriculum and Educational Affairs’ initiatives in professional development and mentoring. Working in close partnership with faculty and academic leadership, she manages and/or supports project-based initiatives related to curricular governance, grants administration, program design, logistics, communication, and evaluation. Her work emphasizes collaborative team functioning, clear workflows, and sustainable program design in complex academic environments. Ms. Guerry holds an M.A. in History from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, an MAT from Hollins University, and a B.A. in History from Sweet Briar College.

The following roundtable/workshop will give a general overview of best practices between mentor and mentees. The session will give a year long strategy for mentoring mentees, and What advice should be provided to mentees in a timely manner throughout the academic calendar year.  The session will provide ideas for form development and resources to help with goal setting, expectations, midterm reviews, and annual progress reviews.  The session will also give mentors ways to help prepare graduate students for careers from day one, and help them develop a 2-4 year blue print for finishing classes, completing thesis and dissertation reviews, and preparation for qualifying exams when working with Ph.D. students.

The session will also provide the mentors with strategies to help mentees with difficult times, and help mentors with having challenging conversations when giving performance reviews for lab work, GTA, and research progression. The sessions will give information on helping graduate students to get published, and also getting them integrated in their profession by encouraging attending regional and national workshops in their curriculum.

The sessions will go over what makes a great mentor and what mentors who need improvement may look like.  Resources will be provided to have ongoing growth of mentors,

And perhaps develop some mentor support groups from this session.

Led by

Dr. Rodney Gaines- HNFE Collegiate Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director

This interactive roundtable invites participants to share perspectives on mentoring and mentorship development needs across Virginia Tech. We will discuss existing strengths, unmet needs, and emerging priorities related to mentoring at different career stages and roles. The conversation will inform future mentoring initiatives by gathering insights, challenges, and opportunities from stakeholders across campus.

Led by: 

Barbara Lockee, Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs, Professor, Instructional Design & Technology, School of Education