Peer Mentorship Committee

Peer Mentorship Committee

The purpose of the Peer Mentorship Committee is to provide informal and confidential support and mentorship to lab members, so that they feel supported in their day-to-day lab activities and professional and personal goals. This committee will provide support in three ways:

    1. Holding weekly 1-hr “office hours” where lab members can drop in to discuss day-to-day issues, questions about the lab or academia, professional development issues, etc.
    2. Offering monthly 1-on-1 “coffee chats” to each lab member to check in on personal progress towards goals.
    3. Organizing active events each semester to exchange helpful tips on research or development, discuss research projects or activities, or discuss how to navigate academia.

Prior to joining the Peer Mentorship Committee, committee members will participate in one or more of the following trainings:

    1. Mental Health First Aid Training
    2. Safe Zone Training
    3. Haven Training

The Peer Mentorship Committee can…

    • Provide support around everyday concerns (“how should I respond to this email? How do I get the feedback I’m looking for? How do I manage burnout? What tips do you have for applying to grad school/grants?”)
    • Help you clarify your professional or personal goals
    • Connect you with university or community resources, such as funding and professional development resources, reporting resources, or mental health resources
    • Provide a space to connect outside of lab meeting or team meetings

The Peer Mentorship Committee cannot…

    • Mediate instances of harassment or discrimination (see pg. 5 for reporting options). As university employees we are mandated reporters, which means that we cannot keep information about these incidents confidential. 
    • Provide formal mental health support, although we are happy to talk about how to find an affordable therapist in the area! 

Current Peer Mentorship Committee Members:

    1. Megan Davis (davismeg@email.unc.edu)
    2. Jialin Lu (jialinlu@email.unc.edu)
    3. Esme Navarro (enavarro@unc.edu)
    4. Zoe Priddy (zpriddy@live.unc.edu)
    5. Margaret Redic (mredic@unc.edu)
    6. Anais Rodriguez-Thompson (anaisrt@unc.edu)

Please contact any of us via slack or email if you have questions or would like to set up a time to meet outside of coffee chats and office hours. 

The Peer Mentorship committee has also put together a list of UNC and community resources available to CIRCLE lab members. Please take a look!