MPSA Mentoring Reception (Small Group Mentoring) at the Annual Conference
The 2025 Mentoring Reception will be held during the 82nd Annual MPSA Conference on Friday, April 4 from 7:00 – 8:00 PM at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago, IL
(In-Person Participation Only)
The MPSA Mentoring Reception provides an opportunity for conference attendees who are graduate students, contingent faculty, junior faculty, or PhDs in non-academic positions to meet with faculty mentors over refreshments in a small group setting during the annual conference.
Please note, you must be registered for the in-person conference to participate; there will not be an option to participate virtually.
The call for mentors and mentees for the 2025 MPSA Mentoring Reception has passed. Notifications containing mentee names, contact information, and research questions/conversation topics will be provided to mentors in late March. Shortly after, each participant will receive a message of introduction to others participating in the small group mentoring session. There will be no on-site signups for this event, so you will have plenty of time to review the information for those in your group prior to the event.
Thank You to Our 2025 Mentoring Reception Mentors:
- Hassan Afzal, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
- Nurgul R. Aitalieva, Purdue University Fort Wayne
- Craig D. Albert, Augusta University
- Elizabeth A. Bennion, Indiana University South Bend
- Mia M. Bloom, Georgia State University
- Philip Chen, University of Denver
- Daphne M. Cooper, North Carolina A&T State University
- Thomas C. Ellington, Wesleyan College
- David Foster, Florida State University
- Stephen N. Goggin, San Diego State University
- Taha Hameduddin, University of Kentucky
- Ji Yeon (Jean) Hong), University of Michigan
- Marc Hooghe, University of Leuven
- Yusaku Horiuchi, Dartmouth College
- Yujin (Julia) Jung, Mount St. Mary’s University
- Aleksander Ksiazkiewicz, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Cristopher T. Lynch, Missouri State University
- Brian Newman, Pepperdine University
- Samuel Pimpong, University of Education, Winneba
- Verónica Reyna, Rice University
- Elizabeth Rigby, George Washington University
- Jake Rothschild, Verasight
- Jennifer C. Seely, Earlham College
- Christoph H. Stefes, University of Colorado Denver
- Pablo Toral, Beloit College
- Kimberly A. Twist, San Diego State University
- Matthew S. Winters, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
MPSA 2024-2025 Academic Year Mentoring Program
The annual MPSA Mentoring Program pairs mentees of various career stages with a mentor for the duration of the academic year. If selected for the program, mentees will work remotely (via video chat or phone) with a mentor in a loosely structured format throughout the 2024-25 academic year. The total time commitment is approximately 10 hours. You must be an MPSA member to participate.
The deadline to apply for the 2024-25 Mentoring Program has passed.
Who can apply for the Mentoring Program?
MPSA members who are junior faculty, contingent faculty, postdoctoral scholars, Ph.D.s in non-academic positions, and graduate students are all encouraged to apply. There are more than 70 available mentors representing a wide variety of institutions, subfields and specialties, and career stages, including mentors who can provide guidance for non-academic career paths.
What is the timeline for those accepted to the Mentoring Program?
Around the start of the academic year (early September 2024) both parties will receive a notification containing names, contact information, and CVs. Mentees will be asked to reach out to their mentor within one week to establish contact and begin coordination of an initial meeting to establish expectations and a rough plan for how the mentoring relationship will develop over the course of the academic year.
What will the mentoring relationship look like?
Each mentoring relationship is unique, dependent upon the situation and need of the mentee and the particular experience and expertise of the mentor. At the time of the initial meeting, the MPSA will provide a template that can be used for establishing goals and a rough schedule of future meetings for the academic year. Substantively, the Mentoring Program is intended to provide career guidance and professional development as opposed to assistance with research, reviewing manuscripts, etc. Common topics of conversation for graduate student mentees include preparing for and navigating the job market, publishing journal articles, transforming a dissertation into a publishable manuscript, teaching new courses, or time management techniques and research strategies; for Ph.D.s and junior faculty, common topics include academic administration, managing university and professional service responsibilities, preparing for tenure or promotion to full professor, pedagogical techniques in the classroom, or strategies for balancing professional productivity with personal wellbeing.
Questions? Please contact MPSA Membership staff at mpsainfo@mpsanet.org.
See what previous participants have to say about the MPSA Mentoring Program:
“This is a really great program for scholars in an early academic career, especially those who lack mentoring support within their own department or school.”
“I had an amazing experience in this program! My mentor was truly caring, inspiring, and insightful. I definitely plan to stay in touch in the future, and I am grateful to the MPSA Mentoring Program for giving us the opportunity to connect.”
“In the past three years I have tried other mentoring programs, but my life changed completely when I was matched with my MPSA mentor. We truly became friends – he is kind, passionate, and helped me to manage my job market stress while guiding me along the way. I feel lucky and I believe he is one of the best mentors out there.”
“Excellent program. The mentorship agreement was helpful in setting expectations and timeframes for meetings. My mentor was extremely helpful and I am thankful for the opportunity and ongoing professional connection.”
“This was a great mentoring partnership where I found a colleague, advisor, and friend. Thank you!”
“The MPSA Mentoring Program is an excellent idea. It matched me with a scholar who has been invaluable in my academic job search, providing timely advice and useful tips.”
“This is a very valuable program. This is the second time I’ve participated and both times have been very useful for my development.”
2024-2025 Mentors
The MPSA is grateful for the following members who have volunteered to serve as mentors for the 2024-2025 academic year:
- Hassan Afzal, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
- Philip C. Aka, Dominican University & Global Academics Coalition
- Craig D. Albert, Augusta University
- Andrea S. Aldrich, Yale University
- Melissa N. Baker, University of Texas at El Paso
- Zoltán Balázs, Corvinus University
- Colin Cepuran, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago
- Ka Ming Chan, Newcastle University
- Lindsey Cormack, Stevens Institute of Technology
- Elizabeth I. Dorssom, Lincoln University of Missouri
- Nikoloz Esitashvili, National Defense Academy of Georgia
- Shamira Gelbman, Wabash College
- Stephen N. Goggin, San Diego State University
- Analía Gómez Vidal, Stanford University
- Jeff Gulati, Bentley University
- Yusaku Horiuchi, Dartmouth College
- Amanda Kadlec, King’s College London
- Chad J. Kinsella, Ball State University
- Jeffrey Kraus, Wagner College
- George A. Krause, University of Georgia
- Jaewook Lee, University of Milan
- Juheon Lee, Midwestern State University
- Jan E. Leighley, American University
- Rongxin Li, Jinan University
- Lewis A. Luartz, Chapman University
- David Macdonald, University of Florida
- Julia Marin Hellwege, University of South Dakota
- Martin Okolikj, University of Bergen
- Mehmet Onder, Eastern Michigan University
- Kai Ou, Florida State University
- Yunus Ozturk, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University
- Raul Pacheco-Vega, FLACSO, Mexico
- M.J. Peterson, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
- Matthew Placek, University of South Carolina Upstate
- Veronica Reyna, Rice University
- Jennifer Seely, Earlham College
- Brianna A. Smith, United States Naval Academy
- Aaron Stuvland, George Fox University
- Jane L. Sumner, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
- Wayne Tan, National Chung-Hsing University
- Pablo Toral, Beloit College
- Kim Twist, San Diego State University
- Rachel Vanderhill, Wofford College
- Joseph B. Warren, University of Alaska-Anchorage
- Matthew C. Wilson, University of South Carolina
- Mark Wrighton, Independent Scholar
- Xiaoyang Xu, Georgetown University
- Murat Yildirim, University of Stavanger
- Chunying Yue, Harvard University