The spring semester sessions of the Teaching Center’s Mentoring Academy will kick off on Jan. 19 with an Introduction to Mentor Training.

The first of three, this session will provide an opportunity to discuss the different roles that mentors and mentees play, and will cover the first four competencies in the Mentoring Academy (Introduction, Communication, Aligning Expectations, and Assessing Understanding).

Participants will have an opportunity to discuss the principles of effective mentoring through interactive case studies.

Facilitators for this session are Joseph Ayoob, Center for Mentoring fellow and associate professor, School of Medicine, and April Dukes, Center for Mentoring fellow, institutional co-leader for Pitt-CIRTL, the Faculty and Future Faculty Program director for the Engineering Educational Research Center.

Each of the sessions will be virtual from noon to 2 p.m. Participants can attend one session or choose to attend all sessions to complete all eight competencies based on the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research curriculum.

The other two sessions are:

Jan. 26 — Addressing Equity and Inclusion. Mentoring Academy members, who are trained faculty recognized for their contributions to mentoring at Pitt, will facilitate the session. They include Linda De Angelo, associate professor of higher education, Center for Urban Education faculty fellow, and affiliated faculty in the Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies Program, and Charlie Diaz, Irvis fellow and graduate student, School of Education.

Feb. 9 — Fostering Independence, Promoting Professional Development, and Articulating Your Mentoring Philosophy, facilitated by Ayoob and Dukes.

Register for each of the sessions on the Teaching Center website. A Zoom link will be sent after you register.