Mentoring Initiative to support Graduate Students
The Graduate School has officially relaunched the Ohio State Mentoring Initiative (OSMI), a university-wide effort to strengthen mentoring relationships and professional development for graduate students, postdoctoral scholars and faculty.
Now under the leadership of Brianna Johnson, assistant dean for mentoring and strategic initiatives in the Graduate School, OSMI will continue to foster and grow new opportunities for intentional and effective mentoring practices across all graduate programs. The initiative is designed to support both mentors and mentees through a suite of resources, planning tools, and programming tailored to the various needs of Ohio State’s graduate and postdoctoral communities.
Mentoring is a cornerstone of graduate education and postdoctoral success. With OSMI, the Graduate School is creating a framework that empowers students, postdoctoral scholars, and faculty to build meaningful, goal-oriented relationships that support academic success and career readiness.
Toolkits and Planning Resources
At the heart of OSMI are newly developed toolkits for mentors and mentees, available now on the Graduate School website. These toolkits offer practical guidance on initiating mentoring conversations, setting expectations, and navigating challenges. They also include templates for mentoring plans, mentoring agreements, and Individualized Development Plans (IDPs), which help students, postdoctoral scholars, and faculty articulate their academic and professional goals while tracking progress over time.
The mentoring plan, completed by faculty mentors, details the mentorship philosophy and mentorship and training opportunities provided to mentees. The mentoring plan, completed jointly by mentors and mentees, encourages students, postdoctoral scholars, and mentors to co-create a roadmap for their collaboration, outlining communication preferences, meeting frequency, and shared objectives. The IDP tool, completed by mentees, supports students and postdoctoral scholars in identifying skill gaps, career interests, and training needs, making it easier to align mentoring with long-term aspirations.
In addition to the mentor and mentee toolkits, OSMI also offers a toolkit to help programs, departments, or other organizations establish and run a peer mentoring program for graduate students. This toolkit includes peer mentor and mentee interest surveys and a peer mentoring program orientation delivered by the OSMI team.
Mentoring Workshops and Other Engagement Opportunities
Graduate faculty, staff, postdoctoral scholars, and students are encouraged to explore upcoming mentoring workshops and other events listed on the Graduate School website. These events include interactive workshops on mentoring best practices, faculty-led discussions on building effective mentoring relationships, and more. Workshops and other mentoring events are open to the graduate and postdoctoral community with some focused on faculty mentors and others geared more toward graduate student and postdoctoral scholar mentees.
The OSMI facilitator team, comprised of dedicated faculty and staff from across the university, can also provide customized workshops on mentoring and mentoring up for faculty, staff, postdoctoral scholars, and students. The OSMI team is happy to deliver an in-person or virtual mentoring or mentoring workshop for your department meeting or retreat, class, conference, or professional development event. We can work with department chairs and event organizers to ensure the topics, timing, and modality fit the needs for your event. To get started with a custom mentoring or mentoring up workshop, complete the mentoring workshop request form to begin the conversation.
Graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, faculty, and staff are invited to learn more about OSMI, access resources, and get involved by visiting the initiative’s homepage or emailing the OSMI team.
Contact
OSMI team