Module Objectives

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• Understand the importance of regular face to face meetings
• Guide your student in helping to facilitate effective meetings
• Share resources with your student on how to create agendas and take notes
• Learn how to ask better questions to get better responses

*Information and resources in the module can be found in “Supervising PhD Students: A practical guide and toolkit” by Hugh Kearns and John Finn.

Meetings

Planning face-to-face meetings with your graduate student is crucial in ensuring they stay on track and progress through their studies. It is also an opportunity to have important conversations about research, relationship building, idea sharing and overall support for your student through their academic and professional development journey.

There are several things you should consider when organizing meetings with your student:

• Timing – At the beginning, it’s beneficial to suggest weekly meetings to ensure that your students know expectations and next steps. As they make progress and feel more confident, you can schedule meetings less frequently and let your student communicate their need to meet.
• Length – Depending on how often you are meeting may determine the length of each meeting. If you are meeting more frequently, the meeting length can be shorter, 30 minutes to an hour. As you meet less frequently, you may want to schedule longer meetings to ensure proper support.
• Attendees – Typically, meetings should be between the student and their supervisor. The more people in attendance, the more complicated it can be. In some cases, it is beneficial to have co-supervisors or committee members in attendance, and that is a decision to be made by you and your student.
• Where – Connect with your student to see where the best space for you to meet might be. Your office is a great location; however might be a bit intimidating for your student. A neutral space may make the meeting more inviting and comfortable for your student.

If face-to-face meetings are not always possible, other ways to connect are;

• Virtually through Teams or another platform – this is useful if your student is not on campus
• Phone calls
• Email meetings

Meeting Agendas

Meeting agendas are a great way to ensure a successful meeting. Agendas will keep you and your student on track and create purpose for your meetings. It is encouraged that your student is the one creating and facilitating the agenda during the meeting.

Things to consider while developing an agenda:

• Include a brief update from your student on what they have done since the last meeting. This could include successes and challenges.
• Questions they may have regarding their progress.
• Feedback from both you and your student. This is an opportunity for you to mentor your student on their progress, as well as for your student to share their feelings on how their progress is going and what they may need help with.
• Providing plans to move forward with their reading, research, writing and professional development. This should be detailed with a timeline attached to ensure progress for the next meeting
• An opportunity to discuss student needs. This is your opportunity to see if weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly meetings are required and set a date.

Taking notes

During the meeting, it is important for your student to take notes and write down the outcomes of the conversations/discussions that you have. These notes should be sent to you at the end of each meeting to ensure that communication is accurate.

This will:

• Allow you the opportunity to review notes made and make sure you and your student are on the same page.
• Ensure that your student understands what was discussed and agreed upon during the meeting.
• Demonstrate that progress is being made and acts as a reminder for future conversations and discussions.
• Maintain a written record for all meetings and interactions to reflect on in case of differences of opinion, etc.

How to encourage participation

During your meetings, encourage your student to take the lead. To successfully encourage participation, focus on letting them talk and also by asking questions that allow for more than a yes or no answer.

Keep in mind, all students are not the same. Understand their differences and treat each interaction accordingly. Students may lack confidence due to a number of different reasons, including language barriers, power imbalance, and imposter syndrome. Students also may need time to process the information given to them, so allow for silence.

Here are some examples of questions that might help encourage conversation;

• What have you been doing?
• What articles have you found useful?
• How do your readings relate to your research?
• What have you written? Can I see a sample?
• Can you tell me what you will take away from this meeting?
• What are your next steps? What is your timeline to complete them?
• What support do you need from me?

By asking open-ended questions, you are allowing your student to share more, and it will also give you an idea of what they are taking away from your discussions.

Final Thoughts

• Scheduling regular meetings will help maintain progress through to timely completion.
• The frequency of meetings will depend on your students’ needs and confidence.
• Encourage your student to create an agenda and take notes.
• Allow students to participate equally in conversations and discussions.
• Think of questions that will prompt more of a response than a simple yes or no.