OURS offers Mentoring 101 workshops for units interested in providing mentoring training for faculty. Topics can be tailored to a unit’s specific needs, but could include how to find and fund mentees, setting realistic goals for mentees, fostering an environment for a mentee’s growth and development, among other topics. If you are interested in scheduling a Mentoring 101 contact Anna Hammersmith at [email protected].

A bit stuck as you begin drafting your letters of recommendation for students and alums? Unsure about what to include in a letter? You are most warmly welcome to email Dr. Bren Tooley ([email protected]) to talk through form and content of the letter(s) you are writing or need to write. There’s a ‘genre’ to the LOR! And, also, LORs vary quite a bit by discipline and by type of opportunity for which the student has requested the letter. For example, letters for a major national STEM fellowship, like the Goldwater, should be detailed – definitely more than a page! On the other hand, recommendations for the Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship require short responses within an online form (not a letter at all) – and while the responses must be brief (there’s a character limit), each sentence needs to ‘count,’ to be packed with useful info. And LORs for graduate school admittance are a whole other thing! Let’s talk. I am happy to brainstorm and to provide feedback on letters in draft. 

Participants will learn what zines are, better understand zine culture, and the opportunities they provide to re-energize the process of learning and doing research. Attendees will be provided examples of ways to translate traditional scholarship into zines, find opportunities outside of the classroom to disseminate zine scholarship, and discover resources available to GVSU faculty and students to create their own. To schedule a zines workshop or consultation, contact Mary Ruge at [email protected]. 

Beyond our Mentoring 101 workshop, OURS offers workshops for departments and faculty on the following topic areas:

• Aligning Mentor/ Mentee Expectations
• Creating a Mentoring Philosophy and Plan
• Fostering Mentee Independence
• Fostering Mentee Wellbeing and balance
• Maintaining Effective Communication
• Promoting Mentee Research Self-Efficacy
• Scaffolding Professional Development
• Creating inclusive and supportive spaces for research

If you are interested in scheduling a Mentoring Special Topics workshop, please contact Susan Mendoza at [email protected].

Interested in Learning More About Comics and Zines? Join Allied Health Sciences and the University Libraries for Defining Graphic Medicine: From Genre to Community. The Program will be from 1-2:30 on October 22, 2025 in Loosemore Auditorium 

Defining Graphic Medicine: From Genre to Community In the nearly two-decades since Ian Williams coined the term graphic medicine to define the intersection of the medium of comics and the discourse of healthcare, the field has emerged as vital, transdisciplinary hub for health education, promotion, and literacy efforts across the globe. From graphic novels to manga to zines and beyond, comics of all kinds have been used to share health experiences and/or offer guidance on maintaining and managing one's health - but did this really just begin in 2007? Join Harvard Medical School librarian and Graphic Medicine International Collective board member Matthew Noe for a dive into the recent, and not so recent, history of graphic medicine, a glimpse into how comics and zines are being used in healthcare today and join in the ongoing conversation about just how far we can stretch our definitions.