Mentoring Students Research Assistants & Teaching Assistants

1. Mentoring StudentsResearch Assistants & Teaching Assistants Dr. Gayle MacDonald Dean of Research & Professor of Sociology

2. Overview Standard Procedures Best Practices Things to remember Funding Sources Rates of Pay/ Q & A

3. Introductory Points • Supervision of research assistants is absolutely critical to the establishment of an independent research program • Students and Post-Docs deserve to be treated fairly, given encouragement, and above all mentored along their career path • Know thyself!!

4. Standard Procedures • Your responsibility: • Project management • Time management and goal setting • Safety on the job • Feedback/guidance/mentoring the student • Giving a fair wage • Ensure familiarity with the U.’s services (where Facilities and Purchasing is, where supplies are kept, where the Finance office is located) • Providing regular contact

5. Best Practices How to find and hire the “right” student • Provide as accurate a job description as you can • Indicate what type of skills you are looking for • Indicate what level/year/area you require • Provide a description of what the student will gain from working with you • Interview if you get more than one application-keep the interviews to about .5 an hour, asking the same questions of each candidate • Let the student know how many hours per week (recommended, not over 10) and what the rate of pay will be, and when you will contact them

6. Best Practices, cont’d • Once you hire a student, make sure they have your contact information for easy access, and you, theirs. • Make it clear as to where you expect them to work (In your office using your computer or on their laptop, at home) • If the job you are hiring for is very mundane (like repetitive data entry or endless filing, in other words, a job you don’t want to do) then make sure you pay well. • If you cannot pay well, what other benefits can you provide?

7. “rewards” in lieu of extra $$ • For RA’s and TA’s • lunch out • Gift card to UNB/STU bookstore • For RA’s • a field trip • invitation to a lecture/conference • co-authorship on a paper • For TA’s • invitation to a teaching workshop • teach a class

8. Things to remember • 1. You are always a professor, in the student’s mind, maintain that trust and boundary • 2. You are always a ‘mentor’ to a student, not their friend. There is a difference. If you don’t know the difference, ask me. • 3. The student may NOT be interested in your personal life, but WILL be interested in your research or teaching pedagogy. Share as much as is appropriate • 4. Students have lives, timetables, worries and deadlines, just as you do, and these are just as important to the student as they are to you.

9. Quality of Supervising • A good supervisory relationship: • Boosts student motivation, productivity and performance outcomes • Creates sense of self-worth, confidence, connectedness and calmness • Enhances collaborative projects • Is a reflection of your skills as a supervisor For more information please consult the School of Graduate Studies Guide to Graduate Supervision http://www.queensu.ca/academicsupportgraduatesupervisionguide.html

10. Steps to ensure success • #1: Encourage, Praise and Celebrate • #2: Effective Communication • #3: Respect, Trust and Fairness • #4: Clear and Responsible Direction Tips: • Undergrad students need more direction • Students who are treated like junior colleagues are more motivated • PhD students benefit from an apprenticeship approach • Be available to your students • Be aware of the Power Differential in Mentor/Protégé relationship • Initial meetings are crucial – explain your expectations and create a timeline Taken from Fostering Strong Supervisory Relationships: How Can Supervisors Assist, Queen’s University

11. Where to find funds for students J.O.B.S. (research work) Job Opportunities Benefitting Students • Deadline to apply: September 2011 • Apply to STU Human Resources • Student must be full time • Maximum of 10 hrs/week • Start anytime during academic year • Faculty may use their PDA to top-up wages Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) (research) • Deadline to apply: February 2012 • Apply to Leah Mabie in STU Financial Services • Student must be aged 15-30 • Maximum of 35 hrs/week • Faculty may use their PDA to top-up wages External Grants (research) • SEED Program (Provincial Gov’t) • Tri-Council * 50% of SSHRC money goes to Grad Student wages • NBIF RAI’s • PDA - Professional Development Allowance can be used as a source of funding for Research Assistants • Your Department-for Teaching Assistants and Markers’ funds

12. How to pay a student • Timesheets for both RAs and TA’s come from Leah Mabie in the Financial Services Office • TA’s need signed off by your department chair and must contain a budget number • RA’s you need to sign off on, if coming from your research grant or your PDA. You need to know these budget numbers • Timesheet to Financial Services every other week (on the off week from our pay schedule

13. Rates of Pay (participant exercise) • What is a fair wage? How do you know? • What’s a ‘top-up’? Where does it come from? • Undergraduate • Masters • Doctoral

14. How the Research Office can help • Helping you decide what funding works best for you • Josephine Adda’s support with proposal writing • Rules and regulations • Research Assistant Wage Guide (in progress) • Connect you with RA/TA experts

15. Resources • Sample Mentoring Agreement http://www.unl.edu/gradstudies/facstaff/mentoring/MentoringWorksheetF5.pdf • Planning for First Meeting – A Mentor’s Checklist http://www.unl.edu/gradstudies/facstaff/mentoring/MentoringWorksheetF2.pdf • Brochures on Supervision from Queen’s University http://www.queensu.ca/hcds/resources

16. Contact Me • I’m located in the RO, GM Hall 201 & 202 • To book an appointment: dconnell@stu.ca • Email: macdonald@stu.ca or research@stu.ca • Phone: 452-0460 • Website: http://w3.stu.ca/stu/research/