iAAMCS Mentor Corps Resource Page

Purpose

As our goal is to increase the numbers and quality of African American students that persist through graduate school, iAAMCS offers a wide range of services including research experiences, assistance with fellowship applications, etc. The interventions are provided at the appropriate time in their academic career. For this reason, a student may receive services sparsely though undergraduate and graduate school.

In an effort to provide continuity of mentoring as students move through undergraduate and graduate school, we will be assigning our most promising scholars with mentors that will work with students to provide advice and insight and to assist students with finding appropriate resources and services as they need them.

How it works:

Mentors talk with their mentees once per quarter. This meeting can be either through Skype or voice only. The conversation will cover a set of topics based on the status of the student. Undergraduate students will be advised on graduate school and fellowship applications, summer research experiences (REU) and publication assistance. Graduate students in their first or second year will be advised on fellowship applications, selecting an advisor, strategies for the success in the various preliminary exam formats and in successful publishing. Advanced graduate students will be advised on publications, dissertation management and finding an appropriate position in a research capacity (post-doc, professor or researcher in a private or government lab).

Selection:

iAAMCS scholars will be selected based on recommendation and capacity to complete graduate work. The recommendation can be provided by a professor at the home institution or the advisor from a research experience. Ten scholars will be selected each spring and will continue in the program until a student has completed their educational goals and entered the work force.

Resources:

If you have questions, please feel free to email the iAAMCS Mentor Corps Director, Dr. Monica Anderson-Herzog (anderson@cs.ua.edu).