Mentorship Training

WORKSHOPS BEGIN SOON.

REGISTRATION IS CURRENTLY OPEN.

SPACE IS LIMITED.

Mentorship at Penn State is defined as a professional, working alliance in which individuals work together over time to support the personal and professional growth, development, and success of the relational partners through the provision of holistic support.

Effective mentoring supports an individual’s professional and personal development, sense of belonging, and productivity to the benefit of both the individual and the institution. Penn State strives to create a culture where mentoring is considered essential to both individual and institutional success, and effective mentorship is considered a hallmark of successful, well-functioning academic units. All faculty members, students, staff, and administrators at the University should have the opportunity to access a range of mentoring experiences that are intentionally designed to support individuals’ growth and development throughout their careers. A central tenet of mentorship at Penn State is that all mentoring relationships and programs will be culturally responsive and value the identity, experiences, and needs of the mentee.

Free mentorship training is available to Penn State faculty; space is limited. These workshops are presented by the Office of Undergraduate Education in collaboration with the Office of Faculty Affairs and in coordination with the Office for Research Protections.

Mentorship Matters Workshops

Sessions are available either as a half-day in-person event or a series of three, 1.5 hour online sessions in the spring and fall semesters. The Mentoring Matters workshop aims to help faculty strengthen their mentoring capabilities by providing resources and guidance on cultivating healthy, mutually beneficial mentor-mentee relationships.

Mentorship Train-the-Trainer Workshops

Sessions are available in-person only. Prior attendance at a Mentoring Matters Workshop is required. This workshop offers training for faculty to become a Mentorship Matters Workshop Leader. The Mentorship Matters Workshops help faculty strengthen their mentoring capabilities by providing resources and guidance on cultivating healthy, mutually beneficial mentor-mentee relationships.

Mentorship training can be taken as a stand-alone workshop or can count towards the Provost Endorsement for Research Culture by Design: Mentorship, Integrity, and Practice. Strong research programs depend on ethical conduct, effective mentorship, and well-structured research environments. This Provost Endorsement equips faculty with practical tools to foster responsible research practices, establish clear expectations, engage in productive mentoring relationships, and prevent common challenges such as authorship disputes or poor documentation. The program integrates mentorship and research integrity concepts to support inclusive, transparent, and sustainable research environments across disciplines.

2026-2027 Schedule

Online Mentorship Workshops

Sessions run 3:30 p.m. – 5:00 pm each date below. Must attend all three sessions to count towards the Provost Endorsement.

September 23, 2026
September 30, 2026
October 7, 2026

In-Person Mentorship Workshops

May 6, 2027 (12:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.)

Mentorship Train the Trainer

May 6, 2027 (9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.)

About the Workshop

The workshop aims to help faculty strengthen their mentoring capabilities by providing resources and guidance on cultivating healthy, mutually beneficial mentor-mentee relationships. Topics include:

Communicating across diverse dimensions,
Establishing clear expectations; and
Creating safe, respectful research environments.

The curriculum for this workshop comes from the Center for Mentored Experiences in Research and will include the core competencies of aligning expectations, assessing understanding, and addressing equity and inclusion.
While the workshop will focus on mentoring students and postdocs, the knowledge and competencies shared are applicable to a broader audience, including the mentorship of faculty.

Format

The workshops are offered both in-person and online, via Zoom, to provide flexibility for attendees.

Registration

Registration is open now for all sessions. Early registration is recommended as spaces are limited.

All in-person sessions will be held at the Dreamery, situated on the ground level of the Shields Building at the University Park campus. Online sessions will be held on Zoom and are available linked through the Faculty Affairs website and registration via the Learning Resource Network (LRN).

In spring 2025, participants who have successfully completed the training may take the Train the Mentorship Matters Workshop Leader to learn how to deliver the Mentorship Matters workshop in the future.