Session 3 (1:00-2:30): Fireside Chats

A New Tool for Mentoring Writers
fireside chat | Brookside Room

Marcus Meade
School of Graduate Studies

Growing as a writer is something students experience throughout their time in higher education. They take from each writing experience and instructor to create an identity as writers. In this way, the work of mentoring writers is a collaborative effort shared by so many faculty and staff. As part of my role as the CAFE Faculty Fellow for the Teaching of Writing, I've developed a tool that I hope will make the work of mentoring writers easier and more effective. This tool focuses on the most essential aspects of effective writing support and provides resources for helping those who hope to support writers as teachers, advisors, consultants, and mentors. This session will provide information about this new tool and the principles behind it in an effort to help the mentoring of young writers be as efficient and effective as possible. 

• Understand how to find, navigate, and utilize this new tool

• Unearth questions faculty may have about the teaching of writing 

Repeat from 9:00 am

Building a Better Model: SOAR Research Mentoring
FIReside chat | Brookside Room

 Dr. Yifei Liu, School of Pharmacy

Dr. Alexis Petri, CAFE

Join us for an engaging fireside chat to explore the Supporting Our Academic Researchers (SOAR) Research Mentoring model. SOAR aims to provide faculty with targeted support for scholarly growth through matrix mentoring across self, peer, professional, and senior levels, pre-submission proposal reviews, and resources for large grant opportunities.

This conversation will highlight the SOAR framework’s current successes, including mentoring programs, proposal development workshops, and grant-writing initiatives like Art of Grants and the Faculty Writing Initiative. Faculty will have the opportunity to provide suggestions for enhancing the model, share insights on their mentoring experiences, and discuss strategies to better align SOAR with their needs.

• Learn about the SOAR Research Mentoring model and its matrix mentoring structure.

• Gain insights into existing SOAR programs supporting grant writing, research collaboration, and proposal development.

• Share ideas and contribute to strengthening the SOAR model to better support faculty success across all ranks.