Mentor

Graduate Achievement through Mentorship (GrAM)

GrAM’s mission is to provide first-year graduate students with resources and support as they navigate graduate school. Incoming graduate students are matched with current graduate students in a mentoring group composed of 2 mentors and 3-4 mentees. GrAM mentors will serve as a resource and develop their mentoring skills while positively contributing to the climate of the department.

Applications to become a GrAM mentor are now OPEN until August 5, 2022! Please select your department below. 

Chemistry Mentor Application | Physics Mentor Application

Purpose and goals:

The GrAM program is designed to help incoming graduate students at UNC Chapel Hill as they navigate the early years of their graduate career. The first year of graduate school is a demanding time. Students are taking their core courses, teaching undergraduate classes, finding and joining a research group, and beginning their thesis research. GrAM matches incoming graduate students into mentoring groups with senior graduate student mentors. These groups will meet regularly (at least once a month) to catch up and discuss topics new scientists often face and develop strategies to combat them. Topics may include imposter syndrome, navigating expectations of the early years of your graduate career, finding a research group, balancing the workload of your first year, and building a support system and social network. The goal of this program is to give early-career graduate students the support they need to succeed in graduate school and to provide senior graduate students with a formal opportunity to develop their mentoring skills while contributing to their departmental community. We hope this program will increase the retention rate of graduate students, help incoming graduate students locate the tools they need to succeed with shared resources, and ultimately have a positive impact on the climate and culture of our departments.

Program overview:

• Mentors are sought and accepted via short applications
• Mentees are first-year graduate students that elect to participate
• Mentoring groups must meet at least once a month
• Groups will consist of 2 mentors and 3-4 mentees
• Fall Welcome event will be held to introduce mentors and mentees
• End of spring event to conclude program
• Low stress conversations about navigating being a first year graduate student and issues faced by underrepresented groups in science (prompts provided)
• Building a professional community of support and resources available

If you have any questions, feel free to contact Gabriella Pereira-Feron (Chemistry; gpf@email.unc.edu) or Morgan Clark (Physics; clarkm18@live.unc.edu).