Working with Graduate Students

Last Updated: September 2011

Table of Contents

• Teaching Graduate Students
  • Mentoring graduate students
  • Supervising graduate students
  • Working with TA/GAs
• For Your Students
  • Getting the most out of mentors
  • Dissertation tips

Teaching Graduate Students

• Best Practices in Graduate Education
  The Graduate School. Pennsylvania State University.
  1. The Defense of Thesis: A Critical Juncture in the Faculty-Student Relationship
  2. The Challenge of Recruiting the Best
  3. Graduate Student Mentoring: Be More Than an Advisor
  4. Professional Meetings: An Excellent Mentoring Tool
• Guidelines for Good Practice in Graduate Education [pdf]
  University of Nebraska Lincoln.
• On Teaching Graduate Students How to Be Independent Lifelong Learners [pdf]
  By Kate Lynn Lapane. The Teaching Exchange. Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning. 2007.

Mentoring Graduate Students

• How to Mentor Graduate Students, A Faculty Guide [pdf]
  The Graduate School. University of Washington. 2005.
• Western Guide to Mentoring Graduate Students Across Cultures [pdf]
  By Nanda Dimitrov. Teaching Support Centre. University of Western Ontario.
  "The Western Guide to Mentoring Graduate Students Across Cultures is a handbook for graduate supervisors who work with students from cultures around the world. The guide addresses the most frequently occurring challenges in supervision across cultures and includes concrete mentoring strategies and case studies to help supervisors promote independence and initiative in their mentees, bridge power differences in the relationship, set boundaries, communicate effectively and support their students in the transition to Canadian academia."
• How to Mentor Graduate Students: A Guide for Faculty at a Diverse University [pdf]
  The Rackham School of Graduate Studies. University of Michigan. 2006.
• Mentor Training Modules
  The Graduate School. Oregon State University.
• Advising and Mentoring Graduate Students: Good Practices, Assessment, and Graduate Program Commitment [pdf]
  The Ohio State University Graduate School. 2007.
• Best Practices for Faculty Mentoring of Graduate Students
  The Council of Graduate Schools. University of California at Berkeley. 2006.
• From Old Boys to Mentors
  By Robert A. Gross. The Chronicle of Higher Education. 2002.

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Supervising Graduate Students

• Graduate Supervision: Guidelines for Students, Faculty, and Administrators [pdf]
  School of Graduate Studies. University of Toronto. 2002.
  This guide "is intended to provide graduate students, faculty, and graduate units with guidelines that promote good working relationships between supervisors and graduate students. These guidelines provide direction on choosing a supervisor, establishing a supervisory committee and maintaining a productive working relationship among all three. Students and faculty can find information in these pages about their respective roles and responsibilities in this important relationship as well as advice on conflict resolution."
• Western Guide to Graduate Supervision [pdf]
  By Elizabeth Skarakis-Doyle and Gayle McIntyre. Teaching Support Centre. University of Western Ontario.
  "Based on the experiences of Western's graduate supervisors, this thirty page guide addresses the supervision of graduate students and focuses on best practices in mentoring, promoting student progress and clarifying expectations in the supervisor-student relationship."
• Eleven Practices of Effective Postgraduate Supervisors [pdf]
  By Richard James and Gabrielle Baldwin. Centre for the Study of Higher Education and the School of Graduate Studies. The University of Melbourne.
  1. Ensure the partnership is right for the project
  2. Get to know students and carefully assess their needs
  3. Establish reasonable, agreed expectations
  4. Work with students to establish a strong conceptual structure and research plan
  5. Encourage students to write early and often
  6. Initiate regular contact and provde high quality feedback
  7. Get students involved in the life of the department
  8. Inspire and motivate
  9. Help if academic and personal crises crop up
  10. Take an active interest in students' future careers.
  11. Carefully monitor the final production and presentation of the research.
• Supervising Graduate Students
  Center for Leadership in Learning. McMaster University.
  Answers to popular questions heard at McMaster's new faculty orientation.
• Supervisory Good Practice [doc]
  King's College London. United Kingdom. 2007/2008.
• Responsibilities of Supervisors and Graduate Students [pdf]
  Memorial University. 2000.
• The Adviser-Advisee Relationship
  By Robert A. Gross. The Chronicle of Higher Education. 2002.
• Developing Professional Relationships between Supervisors and Doctoral Candidates [pdf]
  By Janelle McPhail and Ronel Erwee. Australian Journal of Management & Organisational Behaviour. Vol. 3(1):76-90.
• Suggested Readings on Graduate Supervision [pdf]
  Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. McGill University.

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Working with TA/GAs

From the LTO:
Best Practices when working with TAs and GAs: A Manual for Supervising Instructors [pdf]
Establishing Effective Working Relationships Between TA/GAs and Course Supervisors [pdf]

• Resources for Supervisors of Teaching Assistants and Questions TAs Might Ask Their Supervisors
  Center for Teaching. Vanderbilt University.
• What's Working in TA Training [pdf]
  Centre for Teaching and Learning. Stanford University. 2008.
• Establishing Effective Working Relationships between Teaching Assistants and Course Directors
  York University.
  "The teaching discussion questionnaire is intended as a tool to support TAs and CDs as they work together. Prior to the start of a course, the TA and the CD separately use this questionnaire to privately indicate their response to the items. Next, they meet to compare and discuss their responses, with a view to establishing a clear understanding of what is expected by each party.

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For Your Students

• Your Future: A guide for potential graduate students [pdf]
  Canadian Association for Graduate Studies. 2005.
• Graduate Studies: A Practical Guide [pdf]
  Edited by Martha Crago. Canadian Association for Graduate Studies. 2003.
• Career Advisor Planning Services Videos for Graduate Students
  The University of Chicago.
  The CAPS Video Series addresses a number of topics of interest to graduate students, like "Transforming your CV into a Resume," "Advice for Entering the Academic Job Market," "Tips on Post Academic Career Planning," and "How to Work the Career Fair: What to Wear, What to Bring, How to Prepare."

Getting the Most Out of Mentors

• How to Obtain the Mentoring You Need: A Graduate Student Guide [pdf]
  The Graduate School. University of Washington.
• How to Get the Mentoring You Want [pdf]
  The Rackham School of Graduate Studies. University of Michigan. 2008.
• Tips for Doctoral Students in Mentoring Relationships with Faculty [doc]
  School of Public Health. University of Maryland.

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Dissertation Tips

• Preparing a Thesis or a Research Paper
  A Guide for Graduate Students and Supervisors. Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. University of Ottawa. 2006.
• Dissertation Calculator
  University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.
  "The Dissertation Calculator is a tool that helps demystify the process of completing your dissertation or thesis. The Calculator breaks down the dissertation process into manageable deadlines and provides you with important resources and advice. Using this tool can help you develop your specific process in collaboration with your department, advisor, writing group and others."
• Tips for Writing [pdf]
  Anthony Paré Centre for the Study and Teaching of Writing. McGill University.

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Tips for TA/GAs

Related LTO pages:
TA/GA Resources from the Teaching Assistant / Graduate Assistant Program.

• The Teaching Assistant Experience: A Handbook for Teaching Assistants [pdf]
  Edited by Andrew P. Haley and Joanne M. Nicoll. University of Pittsburgh. 2000.
  "This web handbook is divided into twelve chapters with each chapter building on the last. We start with your first day of class, move on to leading a recitation, improving your teaching, grading papers and eventually teaching your own class. In between, we talk about instructional style and learning theory, teaching with technology and holding office hours, classroom management and international students. We believe this web site can serve as both a resource handbook to be consulted in a crisis, and a readable and reliable guide to the career of a teaching assistant."
• A Handbook for Teaching Assistants [pdf]
  By Allyson Hadwin and Susan Wicox. Centre for Teaching and Learning. Queen's University. 2007.
• York International Teaching Assistant Handbook [pdf]
  York University.
  This handbook is aimed specifically at international graduate students, and offers ideas for adapting English language skills and understanding the context of the Canadian classroom.
• A Guide to Effective Practices for Teaching Assistants [pdf]
  Centre for Teaching and Learning. The University of British Columbia Okanagan. 2008.
• A Handbook for MSU Teaching Assistants [pdf]
  Teaching Assistant Program. Michigan State University.
• Teaching Guide for Graduate Student Instructors
  Graduate Student Instructor Teaching Resource Center. University of California, Berkeley. 2009.
  This guide is divided into sections on pre-semester preparation, teaching critical reading and composition, grading student work, and using instructional technology.

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