Mentoring Matters
Welcome to "Mentoring Matters" the podcast where professors Stephanie Hansen and Mary Drewnoski share their expert insights on how to excel as a mentor. Join us as we tackle the challenges of mentoring graduate students and offer actionable tips for building community, enhancing communication, and fostering a culture of learning within your team. With years of experience and hard-won wisdom, Hansen and Drewnoski will provide the guidance you need to succeed in your mentoring endeavors. Tune in to "Mentoring Matters" for valuable insights and advice on mentoring graduate students.
Mentoring Matters
Keeping Your Lab Running Through Planned and Unplanned Leave
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In this episode of Mentoring Matters, we get personal. We recorded this one back in January 2025 and are just now sharing it, but the topic is too important to sit on. Mary and Steph both stepped away from their labs for a semester, one planned and one not, and we're talking about what that looked like, what we wish we'd done differently, and what we'd tell other mentors to have in place before they need it.
We talk about the difference between preparing for a sabbatical you see coming and scrambling when a health challenge or life event pulls you away without warning. From making sure your students know who to go to, to keeping projects on track when you're not in the building, we cover the practical stuff that nobody really walks you through before it happens.
Whether you're planning a leave or just want to be ready in case life has other plans, this conversation is one worth having now rather than later. Because every mentor is going to be unavailable at some point.
For actionable tips and strategies for mentoring please check out The Graduate Mentor's Trail Map available in paperback and ebook!
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