2016 Annual Conference

In this session, we will share our experience with collaborative, virtual mentoring, between a faculty member and four doctoral students studying Adult and Higher education. What began as a way to support multiple students, became an effective community of practice between the four students in a virtual and face-to-face environment.

This session will be helpful for anyone involved in a mentoring relationship, whether formal or informal, to help them envision an approach that supports their mentees while removing the potential barriers of meeting face to face. Graduate students, faculty mentors, and administrators will find the discussion helpful to their own thinking about the practice of mentoring and the value added learning community that can result.

We will begin by opening a discussion on the value and importance of mentoring graduate students in a collaborative manner, especially in a virtual setting. Participants will be asked to share experiences they have had with mentoring either as a mentor or a protégée. Participants will then have an opportunity to discuss the pros and cons of the proposed virtual collaborative mentoring. Participants will then, in small groups, be asked to discuss the value-added outcome of the development of a learning community and will have the opportunity to develop strategies to use within their own organizations.