BUILD Mentor Training

 

BUILD mentor speaking with a trainee

The CSULB BUILD Program is designed to engage students in research early and consistently throughout their undergraduate experience. This effort is supported through innovative teaching and mentoring by faculty mentors that emphasizes research and incorporates culturally diverse pedagogical and mentoring practices. During the first phase of BUILD, we created two programs, the BUILD Mentoring Community (BMC) and our Multicultural workshops, that provide opportunities for faculty to develop intercultural competence as mentors and teachers, including tools to communicate more effectively with students of diverse backgrounds and methods to facilitate student identity and success in health-related research careers. The success of these programs provides the groundwork that will be institutionalized as the Advancing Inclusive Mentoring (AIM) program on campus under the Phase II of BUILD.

Advancing Inclusive Mentoring (AIM)

The AIM program both continues and expands our work sharing best practices in mentoring students to success. Because good mentoring practices positively impact students regardless of field, we expanded our focus to include mentor training of faculty from all disciplines, not just biomedically-related fields. In addition, because students are mentored by both faculty and staff on campus, we again expanded to be inclusive of staff members.

Become a Beach Mentor

At CSULB, the AIM program is known as the Beach Mentor Program. BUILD is thrilled to partner with the CSULB Faculty Center to take the ideas shared and lessons learned from our BUILD Mentoring Community, expand them, add student voices, and put the entire program online. Our goal is to share best mentoring practices among faculty members who work with students on their research, scholarly, and creative projects and among staff members who work with students. The online modules cover topics that promote effective mentor/mentee relationship and professional growth including communicating with mentees, inclusive mentoring, facilitating mentee health and wellness, cultivating mentee growth and development, mentoring RSCA projects, and creating a personalized mentoring plan. The training is administered by the Faculty Center and is open to the campus community. Faculty members who complete the training will receive the Beach Mentor certificates of completion issued by the Faculty Center, a status that will be recognized for specific internal grants, such as the Summer Student Research Assistantships awards provided by the Office of Research and Economic Development (ORED).

Training Requirement for new BUILD Mentors

All BUILD mentors are highly encouraged to complete the Beach Mentor Program. To host a BUILD trainee in your research group, the following training requirements apply:

  • If you have completed the BUILD Mentoring Community (BMC) and multicultural workshops in Phase I of BUILD, you satisfy the mentor training requirement. However, you are highly encouraged to participate in the Beach Mentor Program as continuing mentor training.
  • If you have not completed the BMC during Phase I, you are required to complete the Beach Mentor Program within one semester of having a trainee in your research program.

If you are CSULB faculty and you’d like more information about the Beach Mentor/AIM program, please visit the Faculty Center's Advancing Inclusive Mentoring (AIM) page. If you are outside of CSULB and would like information on how to bring AIM to your campus (including train the trainer sessions that also provide an AIM leader’s manual), please contact kelly.young@csulb.edu. 

BUILD Mentor Training Success from CSULB BUILD Phase I

BUILD Mentoring Community (BMC)

The BUILD Mentoring Community was developed by BUILD I Education Innovation Coordinator, Dr. Kelly Young, who offers expertise in scientific pedagogy to engage students early and consistently throughout their undergraduate experience. She is widely recognized for her effective Faculty Learning Communities applicable to STEM fields. The BMC was a 2-semester, outcome-driven program, based on the National Research Mentoring Network's (NRMN's) Entering Mentoring Program [link to NRMN]. The first semester provides resources and weekly online discussions on topics related to effective mentoring. Participants then implement what they learned in their classrooms or laboratories during the second semester. More information on the BMC can be found on BUILD Mentoring Community (BMC) page. A Leader’s Manual has been created for the BMC.

Multicultural Workshops

These in-person workshops offered by BUILD I Intercultural Innovation Coordinator, Dr. Jose Rodriguez, provide insights on culturally-responsive mentoring approaches and intercultural (intergroup) communication. The workshops, which were offered twice each semester, covered different methods to enhance mentors' and teachers' communication with students of diverse linguistic, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds, and to foster student success in the health-related research disciplines.  These workshops can be brought to campuses or webinars. For more information contact the BUILD Research Enrichment Core.