2024 Mentoring and Advising Summit

Inclusive Excellence in Mentoring and Advising

Revisit the 2024 Summit

Presentations from the event are available to view on the 2024 Summit Session Recordings page >>

We are pleased to have welcomed over 2,000 attendees representing 130+ institutions and organizations from around the globe to the seventh annual Mentoring and Advising Summit. 

About the Mentoring and Advising Summit

At the University of Pittsburgh, advising and mentoring are integral to our educational mission as we aim to prepare students for lives of impact through educational experiences tailored to their specific goals and needs. As such, we advocate for collaborative and holistic advising interactions. Through the seventh annual Mentoring and Advising Summit, we will continue to drive towards our strong culture of student success and inclusion as we convene mentors, advisors, coaches, and administrators from around the globe to discuss new trends and best practices in mentoring and advising.  

During this virtual summit, participants will engage with and learn about specific tools, techniques, theories, and concepts to support undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdocs as they chart goals, develop enduring networks, and sustain their pursuit of success after graduation. These aims are important as together, we work to make our institutions of higher education more dynamic and inclusive places for everyone, most especially for at-promise student populations including first-generation, income-eligible, underrepresented minority, exploratory, transfer, rural, international, and those in need of academic intervention.

Agenda Overview

View the detailed agenda and speaker bios

Session Spotlights

Opening Keynote - Dr. Amelia Parnell (9-10 a.m. ET)

Welcome and Introduction: April Belback, Associate Vice Provost for Student Success and Advising
Fireside chat: Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor Joseph J. McCarthy, Dr. Amelia Parnell, Vice President for Research and Policy at NASPA, and Amanda Brodish, Associate Vice Provost for Data Analytics

In this session, we will discuss the importance of data-driven and holistic advising approaches towards our student success efforts. Interim Provost McCarthy will talk with Dr. Amelia Parnell, the Vice President for Research and Policy at NASPA, which leads the Advising Success Network (ASN). The ASN is committed to putting students at the center of their approach to addressing educational change and improved student outcomes in support of a more equitable student experience.  

Plenary Session (11:20 a.m.-12:15 p.m. ET)

Introduction: Amanda Godley, Vice Provost for Graduate Studies & Interim Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies
Presenters: Donte McGuire, Managing Director at Higher Ed Insight and Tashera Gale, Senior Director of Research and Evaluation at Higher Ed Insight

This session underscores the importance of authentically integrating students' perspectives in designing and implementing student success efforts. Drs. Tashera Gale and Donté McGuire will share learnings from a comprehensive evaluation of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's University Centers of Exemplary Mentoring (UCEM) program. The evaluation centered the voices of nearly 200 Black, Indigenous, and Latine doctoral students and alumni and yielded key insights related to students' experiences in graduate school environments, ideas for defining and achieving student success, and visions for equitable systems of support.

Closing Plenary Panel (3:50-5:00 p.m. ET)

Introduction: Steve Dandaneau, Executive Director, Association for Undergraduate Education at Research Universities (UERU)
Panelists: Catherine Shaw, Director at Tyton Partners, April Belback, Associate Vice Provost for Student Success and Advising, and Carla Panzella, Interim Vice Provost for Student Affairs and Dean of Students

With the launch of the Boyer 2030 Equity/Excellence Imperative more than a year ago, it is now time to put some of the strategies into action.  In this session, we will highlight how collaboration and coordination are vital to holistic advising and student success efforts. Catherine Shaw, Director at Tyton Partners, will first discuss the 2023 Driving Toward a Degree research, with a focus on awareness of student support offices and referrals. Then, we will discuss how Pitt has built intentional collaborations between academic and student affairs to create student success as an institutional priority.

Timely Topics at the Summit

• Creating a sense of #belonging through mentoring and advising interactions
• Driving towards a culture of #studentsuccess for at-promise student populations 
• Leveraging #technology tools as critical elements of our campus ecosystems  
• Developing partnerships to ensure #transfer student success  
• Understanding #collaboration towards holistic mentoring and advising approaches 
• Extending meaningful #discourse opportunities to enrich mentoring and advising

Who Should Participate? 

Any faculty member, staff member, administrator, graduate student, postdoc, or researcher who advises, mentors, or coaches undergraduate students, graduate students or postdocs.

Why Should You Participate? 

• It is accessible! Thanks to our sponsors, the Summit is a world-class conference at no cost to attendees and can be engaged virtually anywhere in the world.  
• 3 keynote sessions! Our speakers are leaders in the field where you get up-to-date information on research-backed topics, trends, and successful strategies. 
• Make new connections! You can network with colleagues who mentor, advise, and coach students and postdocs and share your innovative solutions and strategies.

Revisit the 2023 Mentoring and Advising Summit!