Mentored Experience Implementation Plan: previously the Teaching Implementation Plan
Mentored Teaching Experience (LGS 600): The term mentored teaching experience (MTE) offers precise language for the aims and intent of doctoral students learning to teach in our academic programs. This experience represents a collaborative mentoring process between graduate students and faculty members to reflect on and interpret disciplinary knowledge; find multiple ways to represent disciplinary content; adapt content to students’ abilities and prior knowledge, and develop methods to assess and improve the teaching and learning process in a discipline. We categorized enrollment in MTE as LGS 600 with two possible outcomes—successful or unsuccessful. Students enrolled in MTE have a faculty mentor supporting the students’ development as a professional able to communicate or evaluate disciplinary knowledge. This intellectual development is important for those seeking careers as academics or citizen scholars. Students enrolled in the MTE may be referred to as an assistant in instruction (A.I.) on course materials and should be included in course evaluations. Typically, the faculty mentor, director of graduate studies, or a designated faculty member serves as the instructor of record. However, if the student is enrolled in MTE and has full course responsibility, they should be listed as the instructor of record in WUCRSL and the faculty mentor should be listed as support. While a student is engaged in an MTE and enrolled in LGS 600, the student should not receive monetary compensation directly related to these teaching experiences. Students may only be enrolled in an MTE once per semester.
Mentored Professional Experience (LGS 603): A mentored professional experience (MPE) option may be offered, at the discretion of a department and in accordance with their Teaching Implementation Plan, as an option for completing one or more semesters of Mentored Teaching Experience. The Teaching Implementation Plan should reflect the requirements of the MPE as defined by the department. Mentored Professional Experience will be documented on the students’ transcripts as LGS 603 with two possible outcomes – successful or unsuccessful.
The Office of Graduate Studies acknowledges and supports the ambitions of students who choose to pursue diverse career options. Engagement in an MPE is one avenue for students to explore career options and develop professional skills during their studies at Washington University. MPEs should be substantive and meaningful in nature akin to an internship. Students engaging in an MPE must follow the minimum requirements of the Office of Graduate Studies as well as any additional requirements defined by the department.
Students engaged in an MPE should:
- Be enrolled in LGS 603 (Mentored Professional Experience)
- Only engage in one MPE per semester
- Identify an on-site mentor
- Provide a brief description of the mentored experience to the department prior to the start of the experience
- Provide a calendar of activity and outcomes that align with the Washington University standard semester
- Not be paid by the host organization, institution, or business
Students planning to enroll in LGS 603 will complete a short registration form available on the Office of Graduate Studies website. The Office of Graduate Studies will share this enrollment request with the department and the DGS will determine whether a student is permitted to enroll in LGS 603 in accordance with their Mentored Experience Implementation Plan and the minimum requirements defined above. Students who complete the registration form are encouraged to meet with the Associate Dean for Graduate Career and Professional Development to ensure the MPE aligns with the Individual Development Plan.
Departments may define additional requirements to approve an MPE or to assign an outcome for the experience. Not all departments will permit Mentored Professional Experiences as an option for a semester of Mentored Teaching Experience.
If the department allows an MPE to replace an MTE enrollment, only enrollments in LGS 600 or LGS 603 may be used to count toward the department’s teaching requirements.
