Mentoring To assist students in teaching as well as in their course work and career plans, a formal mentoring system is in place in the French section. The general structure in French allows for informal meetings to occur a few times a year with a specific professors generally chosen by the students themselves. The Spanish graduate program does not follow a formalized mentoring plan. Instead, it incorporates related activities into faculty assessments of students' seminar work each semester, and in conversations between the Graduate Director, professors, and students regarding their studies in the program, as need and questions arise. Job Preparation A series of workshops is held every year which cover important job-related issues.
Students are all highly encouraged to attend and participate actively in the discussions.
Topics covered usually include such matters as academic essay writing and publishing, networking within the profession, the current and future job markets, and conference paper preparation and delivery. In addition, mock interviews are scheduled and may be videotaped ahead of time in the department for those advanced students wishing to attend the MLA annual convention and who may already have job interviews scheduled. Such mock interviews allow students to assess their own interviewing skills and to prepare for productive meetings with prospective employers. Preparation for the job market also entails a pre-MLA briefing about trends in foreign language pedagogy based on recent research, textbooks, and methodologies. Faculty members assist candidates with preparation of a teaching philosophy statement and portfolio and with preparation for the teaching aspect of on-campus interviews.