Auxiliary Mentoring

At Vanderbilt, we are committed to helping you, our students and postdocs, navigate and grow through the rigor of graduate education. We are a community, not just siloed groups. As such, our faculty are committed to helping all trainees, not just those in their own research programs.

To extend this commitment, we have assembled a team of faculty to serve as auxiliary mentors for second year students and beyond. The development of such a resource aligns with the recommendations of the National Academies of Science Engineering and Medicine’s report on effective mentoring in STEMM that encourages students to build a network of multiple mentors during their Ph.D. training, and to include mentors who are outside of their direct reporting relationships.

Vanderbilt’s auxiliary mentors are willing to provide students and postdocs with their perspective on academic and professional matters.

Contacting Auxiliary Mentors

How can I contact an auxiliary mentor?

Trainees should contact the auxiliary mentor of their choice directly via email if they would like to meet. The chosen mentor might, on occasion, be unavailable due to other obligations and therefore, the trainee is encouraged to contact second and third mentors. Please note, the existence of this ready group of mentors is not meant to inhibit students from establishing mentoring relationships with other faculty during the course of their training. Students and postdocs should continue to foster deep connections with their advisor, department, and program.
How can an auxiliary mentor help?

During a meeting, the auxiliary mentor will listen to any question or concern and discuss it with the trainee. It would be most helpful if the trainee could frame specific challenges or questions with tangible examples to highlight their concern. The auxiliary mentor may provide their advice about working through an issue with a colleague or supervisor, or will direct the student or postdoc to the appropriate resource for additional consultation and advice. It is important to note that as faculty members, auxiliary mentors are mandatory reporters to the Title IX and Student Discrimination Office of any complaint of discriminatory behavior by another individual toward the trainee. The auxiliary mentor may, based on their judgement, report or encourage reporting of any unprofessional behavior towards the trainee to Project Safe. All other content disclosed by the trainee will remain strictly confidential unless the trainee agrees in writing to disclosure.