Milestone Timeline & Funding Plans
A thoughtfully constructed plan for funding and a timeline for academic milestones facilitates a mentee’s on-time degree completion, engagement in academic and professional development opportunities, and well-being.
Mentors and mentees should discuss funding sources and amounts for the duration of the program, requirements and deadlines for the program, cyclical professional, academic, and funding opportunities, and agree upon a realistic timeline to complete milestones and the dissertation. A mentor can also guide a mentee through ethical financial stewardship practices.
Mentor Commitments
As a mentor I will …
- work with my mentee on an individualized milestone and degree completion plan that reflects university and field-specific requirements (A/B Exam) and unwritten expectations (e.g., publication expectations).
- provide guidance on my mentee’s development and management of their special committee.
- represent my mentee’s interests in conversations with their special committee members.
- work with my mentee to develop a funding plan (TA/GAships, doctoral fellowship) that best serves their career interests.
- help my mentee identify sources of funding for collaborative and independent projects and product dissemination (e.g., open access fees, travel, conference registration).
- provide regular respectful, supportive, and constructive feedback to my mentee when assessing their progress toward milestone completion (e.g., feedback on exams, suggested revisions for the dissertation).
- revisit milestone progress regularly and work with my mentee to amend timelines, as necessary for their goals, university requirements, or field requirements.
Mentee Commitments
As a mentee, I will …
- work with my mentor to develop an individualized milestone and degree completion timeline.
seek guidance from my mentor on the composition and management of my special committee. - work with and seek guidance from my mentor to remain on schedule for target completion.
- bring challenges and questions regarding milestones and related requirements to my mentor’s attention during regularly scheduled or impromptu meetings.
- work with my mentor on an annual funding plan and pursue appropriate fellowships, travel and professional development grants, and other resources.
- inform my mentor of progress with projects and seek ongoing feedback on materials.
- revisit milestone progress regularly and work with my mentor to amend timelines to better align with my goals as well as university and field requirements.