WHITTIER COLLEGE
MELLON MAYS UNDERGRADUATE FELLOWSHIP
MMUF FACULTY MENTOR GUIDELINES & RESPONSIBILITIES
Thank you for serving as a MMUF Faculty Mentor. The information below summarizes the programs’ aims,
goals, and the duties expected of MMUF Faculty Mentors.
The fundamental objective of the MMUF Fellowship is to increase the number students from
underrepresented groups, and others who have demonstrated a commitment to eradicating racial disparities,
who will pursue a Ph.D. and enter the professoriate in core arts-and-sciences fields. These individuals will
ultimately equalize the ethnic and racial composition of faculties in higher education and address the
attendant educational consequences of these disparities.
Mentoring plays a huge role in academic development. Through their guidance and example, Faculty
Mentors help direct students toward achieving their goal of graduate academic success. The MMUF
recognizes the importance of mentors and therefore requires that Fellows find and work with Faculty
Mentors throughout their 2-year Fellowship. In fact, the key component of the MMUF is the faculty-
mentored projects that involve Mellon Fellows in what can best be described as “graduate school and
academic career training.”
Faculty Mentorship Overview:
As a Faculty Mentor, you have the knowledge and responsibility to demystify the formal and informal aspects
of earning a doctorate. Mentors should present insight into the fulfillment and rewards of a career in
scholarship and teaching. In the mentoring relationship, the sharing of personal experience and the
transmission of knowledge intersect in a trusting learning environment that should provide opportunities for
both you and your MMUF Fellow to stretch beyond your boundaries.
Mentoring plays a huge role in academic development. Through your guidance and example, you will help
direct your Fellow towards achieving their goal of graduate academic success. At the heart of the Mellon
Mays Undergraduate Fellows Program is the mentoring relationship established between you and your
Fellow during the duration of the 2 yr Fellowship. The objective and goal of the directed research project is
to give your Fellow a taste of what it will be like to be a graduate student pursuing a Ph.D.
The Responsibilities of the Faculty Mentor:
The Faculty Mentor plays an essential role in the undergraduate component of the MMUF Program. As a
Faculty Mentor you will have five primary responsibilities:
I. Candidacy: As the Faculty Mentor you will assist your MMUF Fellow candidate with their MMUF
application and materials for submission to the committee. You should provide your “potential”
Fellow with tips or practice opportunities for interviewing with the selection committee.
II. Research Project: As the Faculty Mentor you are responsible for overseeing your Fellow’s research
project. The project should inform them in the practices that scholars follow in a selected
discipline. The project should not duplicate the work required in a course but can be the same as
their senior “paper in the major.” In fact, we recommend that they use their MMUF project as
part of their “paper in the major” if possible. The Fellow’s research should not interfere with their
academic progress but should complement and reinforce it. Your Fellow will be asked to develop
a timeline for their research studies that ends in the completion of the project (please see timeline
example on pages 9 and 10). They will need this timeline signed by you in order to receive their
stipend. The expectation is that the timeline will be developed in the first month of the fellowship
during the MMUF Summer Program. As the timeline is a dynamic document, we anticipate that it
