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Student Mentoring

PBS Knowledge helps you manage your advising relationships with undergraduate and graduate students.

Overview​

Types of Mentoring​

The system tracks several mentoring relationships:

RelationshipDescription
Academic AdvisorPrimary advisor for degree completion
Thesis AdvisorSupervising thesis/dissertation
Committee MemberServing on thesis committee
Research MentorSupervising lab research
Second ReaderSecondary thesis reviewer

Viewing Your Advisees​

  1. Go to Mentoring from the dashboard
  2. See students organized by relationship type
  3. Click any student for details

Undergraduate Advising​

Current Undergraduate Advisees​

Your undergraduate advisees are:

  • Assigned through department processes
  • Displayed in your mentoring dashboard
  • Linked to their academic progress

Advisee Information​

For each undergraduate advisee, you can view:

  • Class year and major(s)
  • Current course enrollment
  • Degree progress
  • Academic plan (if shared)

Supporting Undergraduate Students​

Key advising functions:

  • Review degree progress
  • Approve course plans
  • Monitor milestone completion
  • Provide academic guidance

Graduate Advising​

PhD Students​

For PhD advisees, the system tracks:

  • Year in program
  • Committee composition
  • Milestone progress (qualifying exams, defense)
  • Publication record

Masters Students​

For Masters advisees:

  • Program requirements
  • Thesis or non-thesis track
  • Completion timeline

Viewing Graduate Progress​

  1. Click on a graduate advisee
  2. See their Progress tab
  3. View milestone timeline
  4. Check upcoming deadlines

Thesis Supervision​

Honors Thesis (Undergraduate)​

As a thesis advisor, you:

  • Receive and approve thesis applications
  • Guide research development
  • Review thesis milestones
  • Participate in defense
  • Approve final submission

Thesis Application Review​

When a student applies:

  1. You receive notification
  2. Review the proposal
  3. Click Approve or Request Changes
  4. Provide feedback in comments

Milestone Approval​

During the thesis year:

  1. Student submits milestone materials
  2. You receive notification
  3. Review submission
  4. Approve or request revision

Defense Participation​

For the thesis defense:

  1. Confirm your availability
  2. Prepare evaluation criteria
  3. Participate in defense
  4. Submit your evaluation
  5. Approve final thesis

Committee Membership​

Serving on Committees​

As a committee member:

  • Receive student updates
  • Review milestone submissions
  • Participate in defense
  • Provide secondary evaluation

Committee Responsibilities​

RoleResponsibilities
Chair/AdvisorPrimary supervision, approval authority
Second ReaderSecondary review, feedback
Committee MemberParticipate in defense, evaluate
External MemberOutside perspective, expertise

Approval Workflows​

All student requests you review — thesis requests, independent research, fellowship applications, milestone submissions — flow through the unified workflow system. A submitted item shows status submitted while it is anywhere in review; your individual decision is recorded on a per-approver approval record, so multi-approver stages can progress independently.

Pending Approvals​

View items needing your action:

  1. Go to Mentoring → Pending Approvals
  2. See all items awaiting your review
  3. Sort by date or type
  4. Click to review and approve

Approval Types​

TypeWhat You're Approving
Thesis ApplicationStudent's proposal to do thesis
Committee FormationCommittee composition
Milestone CompletionProgress milestones
Thesis DraftChapter or full thesis drafts
Defense ReadinessPermission to defend
Final ThesisCompleted thesis document

Making Approval Decisions​

For each approval request:

  1. Review submitted materials
  2. Add comments (optional but recommended)
  3. Choose:
    • Approve - Accept submission
    • Request Revision - Need changes
    • Reject - Not acceptable
  4. Student receives notification

Approval History​

View past decisions:

  1. Go to Mentoring → History
  2. Filter by student or type
  3. See your comments and decisions

Communication Tools​

Messaging Students​

From any student's profile:

  1. Click Send Message
  2. Compose your message
  3. Send via system or email

Meeting Scheduling​

Schedule meetings with advisees:

  1. View student's profile
  2. Click Schedule Meeting
  3. Select available times
  4. Meeting appears in both calendars

Progress Notes​

Document advising interactions:

  1. Open student's profile
  2. Go to Notes tab
  3. Click Add Note
  4. Enter meeting notes or observations
  5. Notes are private to advisors

Reporting​

Advisee Summary​

Generate reports on your advisees:

  1. Go to Mentoring → Reports
  2. Select report type:
    • Current advisee list
    • Milestone status
    • Progress summary
  3. Export as PDF or CSV

Department Reports​

Department may request:

  • Advising load summaries
  • Student progress reports
  • Committee participation

Best Practices​

Regular Check-ins​

  • Meet with undergrads each term
  • Meet with graduate students monthly
  • Document meeting outcomes

Timely Responses​

  • Review submissions within 1 week
  • Respond to applications promptly
  • Provide clear, actionable feedback

Clear Expectations​

  • Define milestones at relationship start
  • Set communication expectations
  • Establish meeting schedules

Troubleshooting​

Missing Advisee​

  1. Verify assignment in department records
  2. Check student has activated account
  3. Contact support for sync issues

Approval Not Working​

  1. Ensure you have approval permission
  2. Check all required fields are complete
  3. Try refreshing the page
  4. Contact support if problem persists

Notification Issues​

  1. Check your email settings
  2. Verify email address is correct
  3. Check spam folder
  4. Adjust notification preferences