How does one work effectively as a supervisor of graduate students? How does one establish and foster a successful working relationship that foregrounds pedagogy and mentorship, ensures graduate student well-being, and promotes excellence in research?
Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies at UBC is committed to working with faculty both new and established to promote excellence in graduate supervision. Workshops provided through G+PS on graduate supervision enable faculty to learn from each other, gain insights from the existing scholarship on graduate supervision, and work towards implementing the principles of excellent graduate supervision (PDF) that were developed by the Graduate Supervision Leadership Group at UBC. The Principles were endorsed by the UBC-V Senate in January 2019.
Topics covered include:
- What is excellent graduate supervision?
- principles of excellent graduate supervision pedagogy and related practices
- supervision, mentorship, and holistic student development
- Building a Strong Student - Supervisor Relationship
- effective recruiting and selection of graduate students
- establishing communication, discussing expectations
- encouraging and fostering participation in a community of scholars and professionals
Student Progress:
- the work plan, identifying and achieving milestones, monitoring academic progress
- dealing with unexpected circumstances and program interruptions, maintaining motivation
- preventing and solving problems
- Resources for supporting student well-being, addressing the specific needs of international students, enacting real commitments to inclusion and diversity, and more.
We hope that this program will assist faculty members in developing excellent supervisory practices at UBC.
UBC G+PS holds periodic workshops for new faculty supervisors to promote excellence in graduate supervision, and to address special issues that emerge in graduate supervision, such as: Dealing with conflict; Supporting graduate student writing; Discipline- and faculty-specific issues in graduate supervision; Intercultural issues in graduate supervision; Reimagining the PhD; Research and academic integrity in graduate student research; and Community of practice feedback and dialogue sessions. Visit the Events Page on the G+PS Faculty and Staff Intranet (FSI) for upcoming workshops.