Mentoring Philosophy 1) Collaboratively create an understanding of how we envision teamwork. We always start by discussing what works well for all parties to develop a compact. This is a roadmap of what kind of communication works well, what kinds of rules we want to set for ourselves, and how we will operate as a team. We will revisit the compact regularly through the course of the project.

2) Identify common interests and long-term goals. We always want to know a students’ interests and long-term goals so that a learning experience can be tailored to best fit these interests and goals.

3) Develop foundational understanding and skills in scientific research. Our goal is to help UROP students develop an understanding of behavioral health research through an applied project. This will serve as a foundation for future endeavors.

4) Encourage independent-learning and intellectual curiosity. While we provide educational resources to our students, we also encourage students to learn independently, seek resources, and develop an intellectual curiosity that will serve them if they pursue graduate coursework.

5) Meet a student where they are at. We are a team that comes from a variety of backgrounds, immigrants, US-born, Black, Indigenous, Asian, white, gay, queer, heterosexual, first-generation college graduates, etc. We strive to meet students where they are at in regard to identity or experience with the understanding that we all come from different backgrounds which may impact the ways we experience academic endeavors including power structures within academia.