The UNM Mentoring Institute is pleased to announce its 12th Annual Mentoring Conference, Towards the Science of Mentoring. Early registration is now open, and you can register here. We invite faculty, staff and students of higher education, researchers, K-12 educators, community leaders, administrators, non-profit partners, government agencies, and other professionals to participate in this five-day event, which will be held from Monday, October 21, 2019, through Friday, October 25, 2019 at The University of New Mexico’s Student Union Building in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Together, we will develop dynamic conversations and networking opportunities through hands-on workshops, individual/panel presentations, and plenary sessions.

Call for Proposals

This year’s conference theme is Towards the Science of Mentoring. In just over a decade, our outstanding Mentoring Conference presenters have created a rich archive of knowledge of mentoring that serves as a fertile foundation for practitioners and researchers. This year we are expanding this evidence and theoretical base to plan a framework for future scientific projects. We want to encourage discussion about work that draws from evaluated, sustainable mentoring programs using practitioner testimonies to promote further mentoring research. Case studies, qualitative research methods, and practices that reflect effective qualities for different populations will be valuable to this conference.

In light of this theme, we are keen to receive proposals that:

• Are informative and relevant to the term ‘science of mentoring’
• Are supported by theory and research
• Demonstrate concepts and ideas that are applicable to future research
• Have the potential to spark fruitful conversation during and after the conference.

In addition to hosting presentations that comply with the theme, we are asking for proposals based on the topics of mentoring, coaching, and leadership, within the following strands: science of mentoring, teacher mentoring, entrepreneurship, business, STEM (science, technology, engineering, & mathematics), education, arts, humanities, health sciences, and others. We wish for proposals to accomplish the following:

• Build on the knowledge base of existing literature
• Demonstrate the effectiveness of existing mentoring, coaching, and leadership programs
• Propose new methodologies or evaluation models
• Promote diversity, inclusion, and cross-cultural relationships
• Introduce concepts and ideas to promote and develop practices.

Call for Reviewers

The Mentoring Institute is seeking reviewers to assist at the 2019 Mentoring Conference. If you are a past presenter, or your abstract is accepted to this year's conference, you may serve as a peer-reviewer. This is a great opportunity to read and critically analyze scholarly work in the field of mentoring, coaching, and leadership. The annual conference brings in scholars from all over the nation, as well as international researchers.

Reviewers’ Commitments Include

1. Review 5–10 papers during the review cycle from July 1–30, 2019
2. Complete a thorough review within allotted time, following review guidelines
3. Provide constructive feedback to enhance the work to be published in the conference proceedings

If you are interested in becoming a peer-reviewer, please check this option in your abstract submission form or send an email to The Mentoring Institute regarding your interest in volunteering as a reviewer.

Presentation Requirements

Presenters in the 2019 conference must meet the following requirements for their session (please read these carefully, as they are mandatory for all presenters):

Individual/Panel Sessions

• Presentation: Presenters are assigned a 45-minute slot; we suggest a TED Talk format for the first 30 minutes of the presentation, 10 minutes for Q&A, and 5 minutes for the session's evaluation.
• Paper: Submission of a 5–7 page paper on the topic of your presentation is mandatory. Papers will be peer-reviewed and published in the conference proceedings.
• Optional Poster Submission: In addition to your individual/panel presentation, we strongly suggest to bring a poster to be displayed during the conference poster session. You do not need to write an additional poster paper; however, you will need to submit a Microsoft Power-Point file (template will be provided) with the content of your poster.

Poster Session

• Presentation: Poster presenters will have two hours to display and present their poster during the allotted poster session.
• Paper: Submission of a 1–2 page paper describing the content of your poster is mandatory. All poster presenters are also required to submit a Microsoft PowerPoint file (template will be provided) with the content of your poster.

Roundtable Presentation

• Paper: Submission of a 5–7 page paper on the topic of your presentation is mandatory. Papers will be peer-reviewed and published in the conference proceedings.
• Presentation: You will be asked to present the problem, case, or idea from your paper and direct a set of questions to a group of attendees and lead the discussion towards a solution that you may have input on based on your paper.

Presenter Registration 

• Presenters must register for the conference; registration will grant access to 15 plenary/round table/poster sessions and more than 200 individual/panel sessions. As a token of our appreciation, accepted presenters will receive a registration discount.

Important Dates

Abstract proposal submission deadline – May 15, 2019

Accepted proposal notification – May 30, 2019

Last date to register as a presenter and/or peer-reviewer – June 15, 2019

Paper submission – June 30, 2019

Peer-review process – July 1 – 30, 2019

Peer-reviewed papers returned – August 1, 2019

Final paper submission due – August 30, 2019

We encourage you to become a Mentoring Institute member. The membership includes access to past conference proceedings, view recordings of our webinars after they are streamed live, conference videos, and a discount on the Mentoring Conference registration fee. Become a member here.