Faculty Mentoring
NC State faculty are an invaluable resources to Park Scholars. Academic learning begins in the classroom with instruction from expert, dedicated faculty. This learning extends outside the classroom where faculty mentor Park Scholars by encouraging them to engage in research, to develop grant proposals, to attend professional conferences, and to seek internships. Unlike course advisors, faculty mentors assume the following responsibilities:
- Meet with students one to two times each semester;
- Discuss opportunities for research or artistic projects in the students' fields of interest;
- Sponsor students applying for research or artistic grants;
- Alert students to professional opportunities, such as national conferences or internships in their fields;
- Review the scholars' Plans of Professional Development; and
- Encourage the students to apply to leading graduate programs and for prestigious national fellowships, or to seek employment in the nation's most successful companies, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies.
Other professors known as Park Faculty Scholars provide guidance to an entire class of Park Scholars. Their responsibilities include monitoring the students' academic progress, meeting with them as a group or individually, and assisting them with the planning of academic enrichment activities, such as trips and retreats.