Mentoring
Mentoring is a powerful tool in fostering both student success and inclusive environments that promote equity and justice in higher education. I am trained in culturally aware mentorship practices through the National Research Mentoring Network, and am involved in training staff, faculty, and undergraduate mentors on campus through various classes and centers. I lead workshops for various mentoring programs associated with summer research experience programs aimed at increasing representation in underrepresented groups in STEM.
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences Transfer Ambassador Program
I created the Psychological and Brain Sciences transfer ambassadors program which pairs near peer senior transfer student mentors with incoming transfers. As part of the mentors training I co teach a class that delves into learning theory, mentoring practices including wise feedback, as well as a focus on assets based pedagogy and cultural capital. The incoming transfers take my course in Fall College Student Development where we explore primary research related to college student success factors, with an asset based approach. This course is designed to foster students efficacy in reading and discussing primary literature in Psychology
Staff and Faculty Workshops Culturally Aware Mentorship Practices
I organized and co-led, with Katya Armistead, a series of workshops called Curious Minds: Culturally Aware Mentorship Practices, that is aimed at increasing cultural competence in mentoring underrepresented students Over the course of two years (2018-2020) we offered various workshops for 200+ staff and faculty members. We had over 100 people join us in the first set of workshops (over 2 years), and we created a follow up for the first workshop (2.0 version) for over 100 returning staff and faculty.
Armistead, K & Woods, V.E. (2021) Fostering and Developing Culturally Aware Mentorship Practices: Connecting People and Promoting Action to Dismantle Institutional Barriers to Equity and Inclusion. Chapter in the Handbook of Research on Leading Higher Education Transformation With Social Justice, Equity, and Inclusion.
Student Mentoring to Foster Student Success Workshops
I organized and led workshops to explore student success factors (e.g. belonging) that can inform mentoring for mentors in the following programs: (1) Summer Institute in Math and Science (SIMS) program (2) Transfer Student Center (3) Opening New Doors Accelerating Success (ONDAS) Student Center serving first generation students and the (4) Educational Opportunities Program (EOP) that serves students from low income backgrounds.
Woods V.E. & Wilton, M. (2022) Effective Undergraduate Mentorship Practices Podcast with Office Hours hosted by Sabrina Solanki.
SEISMIC Summer Scholars Program
I co-created, and organized, a summer research program affiliated with Sloan Equity and Inclusion in STEM Introductory Courses (SEISMIC) with four collaborators: Anna James, Nita Kedharnath, Sabrina Solanki, and Mike Wilton. The SEISMIC scholars program serves undergraduates that identify with marginalized groups in higher education, and involves weekly professional development sessions, and coordinated ten-week project. Each of the leads also serves as a one-on-one mentor to three SEISMIC Scholars for the summer personalized development plans for each student.
Society of Undergraduate Psychologists @ UCSB (SUP@UCSB)
I serve as the faculty advisor and helped to found SUP@UCSB, an all inclusive club to support undergraduates in the Psychological & Brain Sciences major to connect, network, and succeed, and we currently have 150+ members and an officer team of 8 officers that I serve as a mentor for each year.
ENGAGE: Connecting Students and Alumni in PBS
I co-created ENGAGE (Engage, Network, Grow, Advance, Guide Empower) with Diane Mackie to promote engagement opportunities for undergraduate students and alumni(2017 - Present) ENGAGE, serving as the project coordinator for two annual events: (1) ENGAGE Fall event, which is designed for graduating seniors in PBS and includes mock interviews with alumni and programming designed to foster professional skills and networks and (2) ENGAGE Spring event - open to all PBS undergraduates; features alumni speakers in three panels, showcasing career opportunities in the field followed by a department wide mixer.
Resources
Woods, V.E. (2020). Cultivating Diverse Undergraduate Research Experiences. In A. Schwartz & R. L. Miller (Eds.). High Impact Educational Practices: A review of best practices with illustrative examples, Ch 15, pg 255-260. Society for the Teaching of Psychology,. http://teachpsych.org/ebooks/highimpacted
