Institute on Teaching and Mentoring

Overview

Institute on Teaching and Mentoring

The 2024 Institute on Teaching and Mentoring will be held October 31-November 3 at the New Orleans Marriott in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The Institute on Teaching and Mentoring, a four-day conference, has become the largest gathering of historically underrepresented doctoral scholars in the country. Now in its 30th year, the Institute gives the issue of faculty diversity a national focus and provides underrepresented scholars with the strategies necessary to survive the rigors of graduate school, earn the doctoral degree and succeed as members of the professoriate.

Institute on Teaching and Mentoring
Video highlights from the 2018 Institute

Visit the Institute on Teaching and Mentoring website for more information.

News SREB News Release

Indiana University Indianapolis Assistant Vice Chancellor Wins National Mentoring Award

Award winner with presenterTabitha Hardy, assistant vice chancellor for graduate education at Indiana University Indianapolis, received one of two national Faculty Mentor of the Year awards earlier this month at the annual Institute on Teaching and Mentoring , Oct. 29-Nov. 3 in New Orleans.

The Institute is the nation’s largest annual gathering of underrepresented doctoral students and college faculty members of color.

News SREB News Release

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA FACULTY MEMBER WINS NATIONAL MENTORING AWARD
Sloan Mentor of the Year, Institute on Teaching and Mentoring

Tempestt NealTempestt Neal, founder and director of the Cyber Identity and Behavior Research Lab at the University of South Florida, received one of two national Faculty Mentor of the Year awards at the 30th annual Institute on Teaching and Mentoring this October in Tampa.

The Institute is the nation’s largest annual gathering of underrepresented doctoral students and college faculty members of color.

News SREB News Release

CLEMSON UNIVERSITY ASSOCIATE DEAN WINS NATIONAL MENTORING AWARD
SREB Mentor of the Year, Institute on Teaching and Mentoring

Ansley Abraham, Natasha Croom, Tomiko Smalls Natasha N. Croom, associate dean for academic and student affairs at Clemson University, received one of two national Faculty Mentor of the Year awards at the 30th annual Institute on Teaching and Mentoring  this October in Tampa. 

The Institute is the nation’s largest annual gathering of underrepresented doctoral students and college faculty members of color.

General information

Institute Calendar

Institute on Teaching and Mentoring future dates:

2025 Institute
Marriott Marquis
Atlanta, Georgia
October 30 – November 2, 2025
(Thursday – Sunday)

2026 Institute
Crystal Gateway Marriott
Arlington, Virginia
October 29 – November 1, 2026
(Thursday – Sunday)

2027 Institute
New Orleans Marriott
New Orleans, Louisiana
October 28-31, 2027
(Thursday – Sunday)

News SREB News Release

University of Nevada-Reno Faculty Member Wins National Faculty Mentor of the Year Award

Dr. Kelly CrossKelly Cross, an assistant professor of chemical engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno, was awarded one of six national Faculty Mentor of the Year awards at the 26th annual Institute on Teaching and Mentoring in October in Atlanta, Georgia. The Institute is the nation’s largest annual gathering of underrepresented Ph.D. students and college faculty members of color.

News SREB News Release

Penn State Faculty Member Wins Faculty Mentor of the Year Award

Dr. Michael Eracleous Michael Eracleous, a professor in the department of astronomy & astrophysics at Pennsylvania State University, was awarded one of six national Faculty Mentor of the Year awards at the 26th annual Institute on Teaching and Mentoring in October in Atlanta, Georgia. The Institute is the nation’s largest annual gathering of underrepresented Ph.D. students and college faculty members of color.

News SREB News Release
Doctoral student Kelvin Smith with mentor Dr. Martha Grover

Georgia Tech Faculty Member Wins National Faculty of the Year Award

Martha Grover, a professor and associate chair for graduate studies in the Georgia Tech School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, was awarded one of six national Faculty Mentor of the Year awards at the 26th annual Institute on Teaching and Mentoring in October in Atlanta, Georgia. The Institute is the nation’s largest annual gathering of underrepresented Ph.D. students and college faculty members of color.

News SREB News Release
Dr. Levon Esters

Purdue University Faculty Member Wins National Faculty of the Year Award

Levon T. Esters, an associate professor of agricultural sciences education and communication, was awarded one of six national Faculty Mentor of the Year awards at the 26th annual Institute on Teaching and Mentoring in October in Atlanta, Georgia. The Institute is the nation’s largest annual gathering of underrepresented Ph.D. students and college faculty members of color.

News SREB News Release
Dr. Mukti Rana and NASA scholar Jessica Patel

Delaware State University Faculty Member Wins National Mentor of the Year Award

Mukti Rana, a professor of engineering and director of the Optical Science Center for Applied Research, was awarded one of six national Faculty Mentor of the Year awards at the 26th annual Institute on Teaching and Mentoring in October in Atlanta, Georgia. The Institute is the nation’s largest annual gathering of underrepresented Ph.D. students and college faculty members of color.

Publication September 20196 pages(19E07)
report cover

Increasing Faculty Diversity
Study Shows Annual Institute Is an Effective Strategy

A study funded by the National Science Foundation now confirms the Institute on Teaching and Mentoring’s effectiveness in its mission of increasing the diversity of faculty on U.S. campuses, proving it an excellent complement to university doctoral training. This publication summarizes results of the full study, which surveyed nearly 2,000 participants of the Institute from 2011 to 2016 and compared the results against data from the Survey of Doctorate Recipients for a national benchmark of Ph.D. graduates. 

Publication August 2018
Evaluation Report for the Southern Regional Education Board State-Doctoral Scholars Program. Institute on Teaching and Mentoring, 2011-2016. David F. Feldon, Ph.D. With funding from the National Science Foundation. August 2018

Evaluation Report
Institute on Teaching and Mentoring, 2011-16

With funding from the National Science Foundation, a 2018 study surveyed nearly 2,000 participants of the Institute on Teaching and Mentoring from 2011 to 2016 and compared the results against data from the Survey of Doctorate Recipients for a national benchmark of Ph.D. graduates. David Feldon conducted the study with a grant from the NSF Directorate for Education and Human Resources, Division of Human Resource Development.

DOWNLOAD REPORT

Blog post
Dr. Amy Ansong

Tips from Women of Color on Succeeding in Academia
Finishing the Ph.D. and Advancing in Higher Education

Women represent a majority of Ph.D. students nationally, but overcoming hurdles relating to both gender and race can make life in academia especially challenging for women scholars.

That was a major theme among scholars and experts at the 2018 annual Institute on Teaching and Learning, hosted by the SREB-State Doctoral Scholars Program and its partner programs.

Blog post
Dr. Brian Walton

‘I almost wasn’t’: Ph.D. graduates, experts urge self-care

A critical topic that often gets overlooked in the drive to earn a Ph.D.: taking care of yourself.

The issue was on full, courageous display at the 2018 Institute on Teaching and Mentoring, the nation’s largest gathering of underrepresented Ph.D. students and graduates of color. At the banquet celebrating the previous year’s newly minted graduates, many spoke of their emotional and health struggles during their long journey to the doctorate.

News SREB News Release

Sloan Foundation’s Elizabeth Boylan Honored with Frank Abbott Award

Dr. Elizabeth S. Boylan receives Frank Abbott Award.

Elizabeth S. Boylan, director of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s programs on STEM higher education, was honored with the 2018 Frank Abbott Award at the Institute on Teaching and Mentoring in October in Arlington, Virginia.

Since joining Sloan in 2011, Dr. Boylan has been responsible for the attendance of more than 1,000 Sloan scholars at the Institute and leads the design of a number of sessions at the event.

News SREB News Release

University of Arkansas Faculty Member Wins National Mentor of the Year Award

Dr. Ana Julia Bridges (center) wins Faculty Mentor of the Year award. Ana Julia Bridges, an associate professor in the University of Arkansas department of psychological science, was awarded one of two national Faculty Mentor of the Year awards at the 25th annual Institute on Teaching and Mentoring in October in Arlington, Virginia. The Institute is the nation’s largest annual gathering of underrepresented Ph.D. students and college faculty members of color.

Blog post Dr. Robert (Bob) Belle, Associate Director, SREB-State Doctoral Scholars Program
Dr. Robert (Bob) Belle poses for a photo behind a microphone.

Reflecting on 25 years
of the Institute on Teaching and Mentoring

As one of only three people who have attended every Institute on Teaching and Mentoring, Dr. Robert (Bob) Belle, the longtime associate director of the SREB-State Doctoral Scholars Program, reflects on the Institute’s growth and importance, marking the 25th year of the conference.

Publication October 201816 pages18E04

Changing the face of college faculty
25 Years of Increasing Faculty Diversity

SREB’s Doctoral Scholars Program is marking its 25th year of service to the South and the nation, having helped nearly 1,000 underrepresented students of color graduate with a Ph.D. Another 400 doctoral students are now working on a Ph.D. through the program. Nearly three out of four graduates of the program are teaching in college classrooms, in 43 states and counting. Despite this progress, the situation remains dire. Major shortages of faculty members of color persist, as many older professors retire and the nation’s student demographics continue to shift substantially.