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Tools For
Registered Users
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SACNAS MENTORING PROGRAM
The SACNAS Mentoring Program offers students and precollege participants the chance to interact and build informal
mentor relationships with experienced professional participants and peers.
Mentoring Program Goals
Conference mentoring activities are organized to facilitate connections between students and all professionals,
postdocs, and exhibitors. These activities help participants to:
- obtain ongoing mentorship and support throughout the conference
- engage in professional interchange and networking
- receive guidance and inspiration regarding educational and career choices from mentors speaking
from their personal experiences
- understand the breadth of activities offered to support networking among professional colleagues
and to mentor students in their professional and scientific development
- better prepare to get the most out of the conference
- develop strategies for attending and networking during scientific symposia, professional
development sessions, and the exhibit hall
- engage in mentor/student and peer-to-peer mentoring in the student poster and oral
research presentations
- meet discipline-specific needs while simultaneously savoring the uniquely interdisciplinary
nature of the SACNAS meeting
- develop structures to extend mentoring beyond the conference dates
Mentoring Program Participants
SACNAS encourages all conference attendees to take part in the formal and informal mentoring &
networking activities offered at the annual conference and to continue to foster the mentoring
connections developed at the meeting through our year-round mentoring. Additional information about
the mentoring program:
Information for Students
Student Mentoring Myths
Myth #1: Students need only one mentor to help guide them.
SACNAS recognizes that students can benefit from a diversity of role models and mentoring
perspectives to attain success in the sciences. Different questions may be best addressed to
different mentors, mentoring needs change over time, and one size does not fit all when it
comes to mentoring. Therefore, SACNAS encourages mentees to make multiple mentoring
connections and to try out the variety of networking and mentoring activities to discover
which ones best meet their current needs.
Information for Mentors
The Value of Mentors
SACNAS mentors are the embodiment of the organization’ mission. Mentorship is perhaps the
one vital piece—of everything that goes into creating a successful education/career for a
minority science student—upon which you as an individual can have immediate, direct impact.
SACNAS believes that all of our postdoc, professional, and exhibitor members have something unique,
motivating, and important to share with SACNAS students.
Frequently Asked Questions, SACNAS Mentors
Q: What is a mentor?
A: A mentor is a trusted counselor, guide, or role model. A mentor provides a listening
ear, provides encouragement offers suggestions based on her/his own experience and knowledge,
Q: I’m not sure I know how to be a mentor, what does it take to be a
SACNAS mentor?
A: The SACNAS conference is highly inclusive and the professionals who attend come from many
different backgrounds, hold different degrees, and have an overall diversity of professional experiences. So do
our students; thus, it is specifically the diversity of the insights and experiences of all postdocs, professionals,
and exhibitors that is of greatest help to SACNAS students as they navigate their own way through the variety of
career options and paths available to them.
Q: Do SACNAS mentors need to have a PhD?
A: A doctoral degree is only required for individuals serving as students presentation
judges; for all other formal and informal networking & mentoring activities SACNAS encourages all
professional attendees to take part, including but not limited to:
- Postdoctoral Fellows/Researchers
- Junior & Tenured Faculty
- Researchers & Science Professionals
- Department/Program Directors & Administrative Staff
- Exhibitors
Q: What are the qualifications to be a student presentation judge?
A: All attendees are encouraged to take part in the presentations program as mentors and
peer reviewers; the more opportunities students have to present their research results to attendees of
all levels and disciplines, the more they are able to develop crucial public speaking and scientific
presentation skills. However, official student presentations judges are required to hold a doctorate
degree and to attend one of the judging orientation sessions at the conference. Please see the
research presentation program mentoring & judging
page for additional details on this key mentoring activity.
How to Participate in the Mentoring Program as a Mentor or Mentee
Students: To partake in the SACNAS Mentoring Program as a mentee, complete one or more of the following:
- At the conference, attend the student orientation to learn about the program and how
to take advantage of each of the networking & mentoring activities.
- Sign up to be connected with a SACNAS year-round mentor through the SACNAS–MentorNet partnership:
- Join the MentorNet Community.
- Follow the “One-on-One Mentoring Programs” links to
create a mentee profile.
- When creating your profile: a) indicate your affiliation
with SACNAS in the designated section, b) be sure to indicate
that you prefer to be matched with a SACNAS mentor, and c)
if you wish to continue working with a specific mentor, include the individual’s
full name.
Mentors: To serve as a mentor in the SACNAS Mentoring Program, complete one or more of the following:
- Sign up to be a conference mentor and/or judge through MySACNAS
during the conference registration process.
- Contact the SACNAS office via info@sacnas.org or phone (toll free) 1-877-SACNAS-1
and request to speak with a program manager regarding being a preconference abstract reviewer and/or a conference
mentor and/or a judge.
- At the conference, attend the mentor/professional orientation to learn how you can participate in each
of the various mentoring activities.
- At the conference, attend the “Conversations with Scientists” session and connect immediately with
a small group of mentees.
- Become an informal year-round mentor through the SACNAS–MentorNet partnership:
- Join the MentorNet Community.
- Follow the “One-on-One Mentoring Programs” links to
create a mentor profile.
- When creating your profile: a) indicate your affiliation
with SACNAS in the designated section, b) be sure to indicate
that you prefer to be matched with a SACNAS mentee, and c)
if you wish to continue working with a specific mentee, include the individual’s
full name.
Learn more about the components of the SACNAS Mentoring Program—including the “Conversations
with Scientists Session,” networking lunch, and informal networking—on the
networking & mentoring
activities page.
For more information contact SACNAS via email info@sacnas.org
or phone (toll free) 1-877-SACNAS-1.
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