I believe that professional relationships among faculty, staff and students are imperative in order to foster learning, critical inquiry and mutual respect in the US academy. Many students first learn to become professionals in college and/or graduate school. A professional relationship with your professors is a necessary, though not sufficient, condition to finding faculty mentors. Be careful not to confuse mentorship with friendship. Faculty are not your peers, and many consider it an abuse of power relations to establish intimate social relations with students. I've written a series of handouts to help students get mentorship and recognize academic professionalism. Click on links below to download the handouts
Email Etiquette
How to Ask for a letter of Reference
Mentorship and Professional Etiquette pointers
