Growing Our Culture of Learning: Developing and Nurturing Mentoring Relationships
August 11, 2025, 9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Fawcett Center
Symposium Purpose
The CFAES Teaching & Learning Symposium offers professional development for all members of the College teaching community. This community includes faculty, staff, and students with interest and/or responsibilities relating to: instruction, teaching, advising, student evaluation, outreach, etc. The primary purpose of this college-hosted professional growth and development experience is to provide an opportunity for CFAES to strengthen the collective teaching community. The symposium presents concepts, ideas, best practices, and examples of teaching excellence and innovation for the advancement of student engagement and learning and the enhancement of effective pedagogy and andragogy. Educators as learners are connected to promote the scholarship of teaching, engage in meaningful and authentic teaching-based discourse, and inspire actions toward student learning.
Through this event, it is our hope that participants will challenge themselves and others to become more engaged and active educators.
Agenda (PDF Schedule for the Symposium - Link Forthcoming)
Program (PDF Program for the Symposium)
Schedule
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Keynote address by:
J. Marcos Fernandez - Professor of Animal Sciences at Purdue University
Dr. Fernandez believes in and subscribes to the critical role that universities play in the development, support, and advancement of students, families, communities, and businesses. Yes, the Land Grant Spirit is very much as vibrant and relevant today in the 21st Century as it was back in the 19th Century, and he believes it is a lesson that serves us all well to reflect on and consider in this day and age! Education, matched with personal effort and perseverance, can lead to personal, professional and economic growth and success, and this is true whether we are talking about individuals, families, communities, or countries. He considers his own life and professional journey to be a reflection of the value and power of education combined with honest hard work, to be a reflection of the value of public higher education, yesterday, today and always. Central to his message will be the critical role mentoring plays in others’ success and fulfillment. Infused throughout will be an introspective first-hand account of Marcos’ own personal, educational and professional journey as a 1st Generation Student, Academic and Administrator, and the critically important role that mentors played throughout each phase of his journey.
"I’m In Your Hallways: Reflections from a First-Gen Student, Faculty, and Administrator on the Impact of Good and Poor Mentorship"
The proper mentoring of students and aspiring university faculty play a critical role in the continued development and eventual success of individuals, and hence, programs. This is especially true when it comes to mentoring 1st-Generation students and colleagues. In contrast, poor mentorship can have lasting detrimental effects. My personal journey as a 1st-Gen student, faculty and administrator will be shared as an example of the significance and impact of mentoring others.
Development and Incorporation of Directed Reading Offerings to Further Engage Students in Active and Shared Learning, Critical Thinking, and Mentoring Opportunities
- J. Marcos Fernandez
Differentiated Mentoring: Moving Away from the One Size Fits All Approach
- Tracy Kitchel and Sathya Gopalakrishnan
Exploring the OSU Extension M.I.N.E. Program: Logistics & Lessons Learned
- Diane Mashburn, ShaLise Simmons, Christina Vail, and Kenzie Johnston
Graduate Student Advising Part 1: CFAES Survey Results and Best Practices
- Gary Pierzynski, Brianna Johnson, and Kayla Kruse
Student Mentorship: Identifying and Fostering Mentorship Skills in Students
- Penny Nemitz, Sarah Williams, and Esther DeBusk
Supporting Learners Beyond the Classroom in Higher Education: A Conversation
- Kathy Lechman
Lunch Buffet
Presentation of Certificates to Completers of the ACUE Course in Effective Teaching Practice
- Shannon Washburn
Bridging the Gap: Peer-to-Peer Mentoring in Academic Spaces
- Nicole Volk, Emma Lowe, and Erick Martinez
From Potential to Purpose: Mentorship in Community-Connected Learning for High-Achieving Students
- Rebecca Ward
Graduate Student Advising Part 2: Ombudsperson and Expert Panel
- Gary Pierzynski, Rebeka CamposAstorkiza, and a panel of graduate advisors
Guiding the Juggle: Mentorship Strategies for Working Graduate Students
- Kenzie Johnston
Two-Way Street: Learning and Leading Through Mentorship
- Lisa McCutcheon
Using Peer Observation of Teaching to Inspire Reflection
- Amy Lea Clemons and Erin Mercurio
Camp Canopy: Mentoring Tomorrow’s Conservation Leaders
- Marne Titchenell
Creating a Culture of Growth and Belonging in your Classroom
- Mary Kay Pohlschneider and Vicki Pitstick
- Session materials links: Presentation (PDF) - Supplemental Handout (PDF)
Graduate Student Roundtable: Fostering Mentorship, Teaching, and Learning Best Practices as a Graduate Student
- Nicole Volk and Kayla Kruse
Peer Review with Purpose: Facilitating Student-Led Writing Feedback for Deeper Learning
- Chris Manion
Teaching and Mentoring While Maintaining Personal Boundaries
- Marilia Chiavegato, Kellie Claflin, and Jera Niewoehner-Green
Tools and Strategies for Peer Review of Teaching
- Shannon Washburn and Sathya Gopalakrishnan
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2025 CFAES Teaching & Learning Symposium
Growing Our Culture of Learning:
Developing and Nurturing Mentoring Relationships
Mentorship, intentionally building one-to-one relationships to foster growth, is increasingly becoming recognized as vital to the teaching and learning exchange, yielding benefits both to traditional success metrics and also to personal wellness for those involved. These relationships can take many forms, from a faculty member mentoring their graduate students on their research journey, to an extension Educator mentoring the learners in their programs, to undergraduate students mentoring one another in a peer mentorship program. Whether an attendee of this symposium is focused on nurturing their own mentoring relationships or coaching others to build theirs, such growth and development starts with understanding what it means to mentor. The following are facets and sub-roles any mentor may fulfill and provide lenses through which to view and assess mentorship.
- As a model, the mentor inspires and demonstrates desired practices to the mentee.
- When “showing a mentee the ropes,” helping that mentee navigate and acclimate to a particular cultural context, a mentor acts as an acculturator.
- When acting as a sponsor, the mentor opens doors, introducing the mentee to people with whom they might build useful working relationships and using the power of their own networks they have already built in service of their less established mentee.
- While the above imply the mentor helping a mentee follow paths they themselves have taken, a coach develops and uses expertise in providing perspective and feedback to help their coachee attain their unique professional, personal, or learning goals.
- In the role of supporter, the mentor focuses on the emotional needs and wellbeing of the mentee, being there when needed, providing opportunities for the mentee to let off steam, and acting as a sounding board.
- The final role, educator, focuses on the learning processes: the mentor encourages the mentee’s reflection and articulation of practice and helps the mentee achieve their learning objectives. Note that, while many may self-identify as “educators,” this is only one facet of mentoring within the teaching and learning exchange processes.
Effective use of these various roles, and an understanding of when to shift between them, are key skills for successful mentors. Concurrent sessions throughout the day will touch on such mentoring skills, using the various contextual forms that mentoring relationships can take as thematic threads.
Thematic Threads for Concurrent Offerings
This thread presents topics and resources associated with building and fostering educational mentoring relationships within teaching and learning exchanges, in undergraduate and graduate classroom settings, in research advising, and beyond. The term “student” in this context is used to denote learners engaged in more formal/traditional educational experiences such as degree seeking programs, conventional classroom or online instruction, or extra-, co-,and intra-curricular activities most frequently associated with residential instruction programs (e.g., mentoring students in the classroom, one-to-one academic advising, research advising, advising of student organizations or teams, advocating and supporting underrepresented student populations, etc.).
Concurrent sessions from this thread include:
- Creating a Culture of Growth and Belonging in your Classroom
- Development and Incorporation of Directed Reading Offerings to Further Engage Students in Active and Shared Learning, Critical Thinking, and Mentoring Opportunities
- Graduate Student Advising Part 1: CFAES Survey Results and Best Practices
- Graduate Student Advising Part 2: Ombudsperson and Expert Panel
- Teaching and Mentoring While Maintaining Personal Boundaries
This thread offers topics and resources associated with cultivating and encouraging mentoring relationships among learners as they navigate learning experiences. The term “learner” in this context is used to denote both formal students and/or non-formal learners mentoring one another as they engage in educational experiences and teaching and learning exchange processes. While this thread may pertain directly to graduate students mentoring less experienced graduate students or graduate students mentoring undergraduate students, it is also meant to encapsulate anyone who supports systems built to help learners connect to each other [a.k.a. find their community], such as peer leaders/mentors (e.g., peer mentoring programs, research mentors, alumni [past students] mentoring programs, first generation community connections, etc.).
Concurrent sessions from this thread include:
- Bridging the Gap: Peer-to-Peer Mentoring in Academic Spaces
- Graduate Student Roundtable: Fostering Mentorship, Teaching, and Learning Best Practices as a Graduate Student
- Guiding the Juggle: Mentorship Strategies for Working Graduate Students
- Peer Review with Purpose: Facilitating Student-Led Writing Feedback for Deeper Learning
- Student Mentorship: Identifying and Fostering Mentorship Skills in Students
This thread brings topics and resources associated with establishing and nurturing mentoring relationships associated with an educational framework, focused on what some might classify as non-classroom, high impact teaching and learning exchanges. The term “learner” in this context is used to denote learners engaged in educational experiences such as non-formal or less traditional teaching and learning exchange processes (e.g., helping learners capitalize upon utilizing life experiences and opportunities, mentoring learners as they navigate their career, providing support for stages of life and learning experiences, mentoring through Extension educational programming, supporting and championing underrepresented populations, providing educational experiences that “mentor,” independent study, undergraduate research, graduate research outside the typical, etc.).
Concurrent sessions from this thread include:
- Camp Canopy: Mentoring Tomorrow’s Conservation Leaders
- Exploring the OSU Extension M.I.N.E. Program: Logistics & Lessons Learned
- From Potential to Purpose: Mentorship in Community-Connected Learning for High-Achieving Students
- Supporting Learners Beyond the Classroom in Higher Education: A Conversation
- Two-Way Street: Learning and Leading Through Mentorship
The final thread includes topics and resources associated with boosting and enhancing educational mentoring relationships between those who facilitate the multifaceted aspects of teaching and learning exchanges. The term “professional” in this context is used to denote educators who are engaged in all dimensions of providing educational experiences for learners/students to participate (e.g., mentoring the professional as the learner in developing strategies for teaching, mentoring one another by serving as peer evaluators of instruction and providing effective and useful feedback, serving as a reviewer of each other’s philosophy of teaching, source of information regarding the selection and use of resources, planning educational goals which contribute to curricular planning, promoting the scholarship of teaching, etc.).
Concurrent sessions from this thread include:
- Differentiated Mentoring: Moving Away from the One Size Fits All Approach
- Tools and Strategies for Peer Review of Teaching
- Using Peer Observation of Teaching to Inspire Reflection