Your first year of graduate school offers both excitement and challenges. Iowa’s graduate peer mentoring programs offer mentees the opportunity to have a built-in support system for navigating some of the “hidden curriculum” of the graduate school experience.  

Core experiences for mentees include: 

  1. Learning and understanding campus resources including health, disability services, academic, teaching and inclusion supports. 

  2. Space to ask all the questions. No question is too small! Our mentors have been there and help you understand what to expect and what is normal in grad life. 

  3. Iowa City Community Connections. Learn about the community and places grads frequent for food, entertainment, and activities. 

  4. Network and Social Events. Peer mentor/mentees have access to special social events and networking throughout the year. 

  5. Shared Identities Options. Mentees can request to be paired with mentors who share some of their social identities. We use a special algorithm to increase these matches as requested.  

To ensure the best possible match with your mentor, we ask you to fill out a short survey that asks about you and your preferences in a mentor. We use these preferences to help create the best possible pairings, but your preferences don't have any impact on your participation in the program. All eligible mentors are welcome to participate in the program and we will accommodate as many mentees as we can on a first come, first serve basis. 

"I moved to the USA last fall to start my PhD program and I must say settling here would not have been easy had it not been for you guys looking after us. I believe that the P2P program not only helped me socially but also academically, it provided meaningful insights through frank conversations with our mentors. Specifically, my mentor helped me gauge what is expected from a PhD student and she offered me guidance at various stages during the first semester."

Syed (1st-year PhD student)

Expectations

To participate as a mentee:

  • 1st year graduate student
  • Ability to attend the meetup on August 21st
  • Commitment to meet with your mentor 1x/month Sept-May* 

*Free events and activities will be provided, but mentor pairs can also choose to meet up outside these events.

Sign up Today!

Sign up to participate as mentee in one of our peer mentoring programs. Space is limited and students are accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis.

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