The University's Vice Provosts for Undergraduate Education (VPUE), Graduate Education (VPGE), and Student Affairs (VPSA) oversee three central University organizations that support undergraduate and graduate students.
Undergraduate Academic Life is a unit within the VPUE that provides pre-major advising and resources for faculty. The University encourages undergraduates to seek out and work with faculty members for guidance on academic plans, mentoring in research projects, building connections with other faculty members, and for inspiration as guides and models for their intellectual pursuits. The VPUE also provides guidance to students who are interested in pursuing research in all disciplines.
Faculty members who are interested in finding undergraduate research assistants and/or obtaining grants to support undergraduate student research assistants may do so by posting their opportunities and seeking funding from Undergraduate Research Programs.
For graduate student advisors, the VPGE offers guidance and resources for good practices in advising graduate students at Stanford, as well as resources for problem solving and crisis intervention.
The following is a list of additional resources from Stanford University offices, many of which are shared with students and are provided to you for your information.
- NEW! Failure, Resilience and Good Advising-- on steps advisors can take to help students navigate experiences of failure.
- Approaching Stanford: A Handbook for Entering [Undergraduate] Students
- Stanford Bulletin: Official catalog of courses, degrees, policies and University and degree requirements
- Graduate Education Policies (from the Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education)
- Planning Research (for undergraduate students. From Undergraduate Academic Life)
- Rights and Responsibilities of Students (from Undergraduate Academic Life)
Resources Outside of Stanford University - On Mentoring Students and Postdocs
Entering Mentoring was developed by the Wisconsin Program for Scientific Teaching, supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professors Program to train a new generation of scientists. This 152-page online book for new mentors in lab settings is one of the most comprehensive and essential readings for new faculty.
Research Mentor Training is an online case-based resource housed within the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The site may be used to explore issues that affect the research mentoring relationship and become a more reflective mentor of students and postdocs.
The Institute for Broadening Participation (IBP) provides an online Mentoring Manual for Faculty. The manual is largely contextualized in STEM fields. It provides an overview of the mentor's responsibilities and further guidance on a variety of topics that come into play in the faculty-student relationship, such as how faculty may provide advice or counsel on personal issues, prepare for unexpected situations, talk about gender or race with their mentees, calibrate to meet mentee needs and balance challenge with support, and maintaining a long-term relationship with the mentee. IBP's Pathways to Science program is funded with support from NSF and NASA.
