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Cornell University

Faculty Advancing Inclusive Mentoring

A Collaboration of the Graduate School, Provost's Office of Faculty Development & Diversity, and TRUST Alliance

Health & Well-Being

Health and well-being are essential to workplace satisfaction and lead to increased creativity, productivity, and academic and professional success.

A mentor and mentee should seek mutual understanding of baseline academic stress and the manifestation of distress as well as personal circumstances (e.g., caretaking responsibilities, healthcare needs, housing and food security, etc.) that may contribute to capacity and well-being.

Mentor Commitments

As a mentor, I will …

  • act and communicate with care and compassion.
  • dedicate time to check in with my mentee during our meetings.
  • demonstrate that I value my mentee and their cultural and social identities.
  • normalize and promote help-seeking behaviors and facilitate access to university resources supporting health and well-being (e.g., student disability services, group & individual therapy, health leave, etc.).
  • encourage and model practices of self-care (e.g., setting boundaries, prioritizing time for restoration, self-nourishment, etc.).
  • support my mentee’s engagement in activities contributing to their creative and innovative thought processes.
  • provide positive reinforcement of behaviors supporting health and well-being.
  • remain aware of changes in my mentee’s behavior and signs of cognitive, emotional, mental, physical, and/or behavioral distress.
  • take action appropriate to the level of concern for mentee’s well-being (e.g., make myself available for a conversation and/or refer mentee to university resources as appropriate).
  • actively encourage my mentee to utilize allocated university holiday, sick time, parental accommodations, and/or approved vacation time.

Mentee Commitments

As a mentee, I will …

  • act and communicate with care and compassion.
  • reflect upon, identify, and communicate (as personally appropriate) what I need to establish and maintain my physical, mental, intellectual, emotional, creative, and/or spiritual well-being.
  • engage in help-seeking behaviors and utilize university resources supporting health and well-being (e.g., student disability services, group & individual therapy, health leave, etc.).
  • practice self-care (e.g., set and communicate boundaries, prioritize time for restoration, self-nourishment, social relationships, etc.).
  • pursue activities contributing to my creative and innovative thought processes.
  • communicate what I need to produce high quality work while maintaining health and well-being.
  • work with my mentor to set and achieve realistic goals.
  • demonstrate self-compassion especially when rebounding from set-backs or failures typical in academia.
  • utilize allocated university holiday, sick time, parental accommodations, and/or approved vacation time.

Additional Resources