University Leaders from 14 Countries Release Recommendations for Improving Mentorship in Graduate Education
CGS Contact: Kelley Karnes
602-791-8278 / kkarnes@cgs.nche.edu
Washington, D.C. — Graduate education leaders from around the world released their Statement of Principles and Practical Actions following discussion and consensus-building about postgraduate mentorship at the 2022 Strategic Leaders Global Summit.
Convened at The American University in Cairo (AUC) for three days last November, the annual event was co-hosted by the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) with financial support from ETS. The goal of this year’s Summit was to identify strategies and resources for better supporting mentoring and supervision for master’s and doctoral students.
The Statement of Principles and Practical Actions document describes key principles to successful postgraduate mentorship. The document also lists actions different groups—graduate school deans, administrators, employers, funding organizations and students— can take to foster a caring culture that supports both mentors and mentees.
Attendees also compiled mentorship resources that they had found effective in supporting mentorship. These can be found on CGS’s website.
Suzanne T. Ortega, President of CGS, said that this statement of principles and actions will play an important role in reshaping mentorship in graduate education.
“Ensuring graduate students are prepared to be innovative problem-solvers and direct objective, original, and ethically-sound research are at the core of good mentorship and supervision,” Ortega said. “The actions we outlined can help support the roles of all groups involved and help our members implement practices that improve outcomes for graduate students.”
During the summit, attendees discussed a variety of models of mentoring and supervision, guidelines and expectations for supervisors and mentors, expectations for mentoring and supervision in diverse communities, and many other topics.
“For graduate students, mentorship and supervision play a central role in the graduate studies experience,” noted Adham Ramadan, Dean of Graduate Studies and Associate Provost for Research at AUC. “While guiding students academically throughout their graduate studies journey, mentorship and supervision support students in numerous ways that ensure successful degree completion and effective guidance for diverse career journeys. This Global Summit presented a venue for a rich discussion in this regard, bringing together experiences and expertise from various graduate education contexts and systems. We, at The American University in Cairo, were very pleased to have the opportunity to host this Global Summit, showcasing our beautiful campus and the role the University plays in offering an American-style graduate education in Egypt and the region.”
The 2023 Strategic Leaders Global Summit will be held Oct. 22-24 in Melbourne, Australia, and the topic will be on internationalization.
Hosted by CGS and international partners since 2007, the Summit seeks to identify differences and commonalities among leaders in graduate education globally and to develop best practices around shared priorities.
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About The American University in Cairo
Founded in 1919, The American University in Cairo is a leading English-language, U.S.-accredited institution of higher education. The University offers 39 undergraduate, 52 master’s and two PhD programs rooted in a liberal arts education that encourages students to think critically and find creative solutions to the challenges facing our region and the world. It also offers globally recognized professional, competency-based education in English to meet the needs of the dynamic Egyptian and broader regional economies. Chartered and accredited in the United States and Egypt, AUC is an independent, not-for-profit, equal-opportunity institution.
About CGS
The Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) is an organization of approximately 500 institutions of higher education in the United States and Canada engaged in graduate education, research, and the preparation of candidates for advanced degrees. The organization’s mission is to improve and advance graduate education, which it accomplishes through advocacy in the federal policy arena, research, and the development and dissemination of best practices.