Doctoral students in music seek teaching positions in varied environments such as liberal arts colleges and research universities. Increasingly, applicants may have to demonstrate teaching experience in other subfields. The Department seeks to support graduate students as they gain pedagogical competence across subfields in order to enrich their academic profile and enhance their prospects on the job market.

Students achieve excellence and versatility through experience as both course assistants and stand-alone lecturers. How much graduate students will teach is laid out in the Pedagogical Training Plan or PTP. Classroom teaching experience is complemented by workshops at the Chicago Center for Teaching (CCT), in the Department, and by faculty mentoring (see below).

The Director of Professional Development (DPD) oversees Departmental teaching workshops, faculty mentoring, and advises graduate students on professional issues related to teaching. Teaching assignments are made during the Spring quarter and progress in teaching is part of students’ spring mentoring meetings. Assignments take into account graduate students’ requests, prior experience, professional trajectory, course of study, and academic progress, including fieldwork, archival visits, and writing progress on the dissertation.

After the pedagogical training of the PhD, graduate students should be able to do the following:

• design and teach introductory courses in their subdiscipline
• design and teach or be prepared to teach introductory courses in other subdisciplines
• design and teach or be prepared to teach upper-level courses in their sub-discipline or field of specialization
• effectively facilitate class discussion
• design and deliver an effective lecture
• design effective assignments, exams, and paper prompts
• effectively offer feedback and grade assignments, exams, and papers
• effectively interact with students in one-on-one consultations during office hours
• be well-versed in methods of and approaches to: 
  • undergraduate writing instruction
  • inclusive pedagogy
  • music-specific skills depending on subfield (ear-training, keyboard-skills, etc.)

Also summarized in the curriculum.

For 2023–24. Starting in year two or three graduate students in music accumulate seven units of teaching experience through a combination of Course Assistantships (one unit each) and Lectureships (two units each). NB:Students who began teaching before Autumn 2022 may choose whether they will complete six (as in the previous iteration of the PTP) or seven units. The Department will consider a student’s petition to the DGS to teach less than seven units under extenuating circumstances. No students (except TAPS and dual-degree students) may teach more than seven units.

CA-ships typically precede Lectureships, though their sequence and combination is flexible. Teaching assignments will be informed by students’ requested teaching experience, their areas of specialization, whether they are enrolled in Track I or Track II of the graduate curriculum, and their research commitments away from campus including fieldwork and archival study.

In consultation with the DGS and DPD, students may choose to fulfill some of the seven units with teaching opportunities outside of the Department, such as writing internships, studio assistantships, teaching fellowships for stand-alone 200-level courses, and courses offered in other departments, centers, and programs.

Students in TAPS or those pursuing a dual degree will determine their teaching units in consultation with the DGSs from both programs. TAPS currently requires that students will satisfy the PTP of their home department (here, Music) and engage in two quarters of teaching related to TAPS. It may be possible (desired) to satisfy both Music and TAPS teaching inside of the seven units; it is also permissible for TAPS students to teach up to two additional classes. Thus, TAPS-Music students will teach seven, eight, or nine units.

Some Possible Scenarios in Years 3–5  NB: These examples do not cover all possibilities.

	Year 3	Year 4	Year 5
	2 CA (101/2/3/4, or another 100- or 200-level)	1 CA  +   1 LEC (101/2/3/4, or another 100- or 200-level)	1 LEC (101/2/3/4, or another 100- or 200-level)
units	2	3	2
	Year 3	Year 4	Year 5
	1 CA (101/2/3/4, or another 100- or 200-level)	1 CA + 1 LEC (101/2/3/4, or another 100- or 200-level)	1 CA  +   1 LEC (101/2/3/4, or another 100- or 200-level)
units	1	3	3
	1 CA  +  1 LEC (101/2/3/4)	1 CA (101/2/3/4, or another 100- or 200-level)	1 CA + 1 LEC (101/2/3/4, or another 100- or 200-level)
units	3	1	3
	3 CA (151/2/3)	1 CA + 1 CA (101/2/3/4, or another 100- or 200-level)	1 LEC (101/2/3/4, or another 100- or 200-level)
units	3	2	2
	3 CA (151/2/3)	1 LEC (101/2/3/4, or another 100- or 200-level)	1 LEC (101/2/3/4, or another 100- or 200-level)
units	3	2	2

The DPD organizes a series of Departmental workshops, approximately two per quarter, called the Graduate Teaching Forum in Music (GTFM). This is a time for graduate students who are teaching to meet with faculty and colleagues to discuss issues related to pedagogy. Topics rotate; suggest topics of interest to the DPD.

Graduate students are strongly recommended participate in workshops and teaching consultations offered by the Chicago Center for Teaching and Learning (CCT), which helps new and experienced instructors increase their practical and theoretical knowledge.The Center provides support to the University teaching community primarily through workshops, seminars, and conferences that address a variety of topics, ranging from theories of education to hands-on application of techniques, from basic teaching strategies to the use of new technologies. These programs focus on aligning theory and practice with the roles required of teachers in lecture halls, seminar rooms, and labs, across disciplinary and pedagogical settings. The Center also provides a number of resources, including a lending library of educational books, articles, and videotapes, a website which collects an assortment of useful information (related both to teaching at this University, in particular, and to post-secondary teaching, more generally), and the opportunity to receive feedback on one’s teaching.

We particularly recommend:

• introduction to Teaching@UChicago
• orientation to Teaching in the Core
• series on Inclusive Pedagogy
• individual consultations to evaluate your syllabus and teaching
• a certificate program

Faculty mentoring is an essential component of students’ development as teachers. Graduate Student CAs will mentored by the faculty member teaching the course; stand-alone lecturers will have a faculty mentor assigned to them by the DPD. General guidelines and practices for faculty mentoring are as follows:

Teaching Assignment	Student’s expected activities during the course	Faculty’s expected mentoring during course
Graduate Student CA	lead a class, discussion section, or give a lecture design at least one assignment or exercise (in-class or written) participate in grading student work (assignments, exams, papers)	consult with student-teacher about learning objectives and class design prior to class taught; provide written and in-person feedback after class consult on learning objectives and give/receive feedback on design and execution consult on grading objectives and give/receive feedback on grading and written comments
Graduate Student LEC	design syllabus prepare and execute the course material solicit and arrange two classroom observations (the first in weeks 2 or 3; the second in weeks 6 or 7) review, workshop, and revise course	meet with student before the beginning of course to discuss syllabus design and objectives; provide written feedback, including syllabus design, assignments, paper prompts, and grading methods consult about the planning and execution of the class; troubleshoot issues that may arise during the course (attendance, accommodations, respect, conflict, etc.) provide written and in-person feedback after two observations of the class (early and mid-quarter) consult and debrief after the completion of the course; provide report to colleagues and/or adviser to help with ongoing mentoring of student

 

Purpose and Scope

The Mentoring Plan in the Department of Music  seeks to establish a framework for the advising of all graduate students en route to the PhD as specified in the Graduate Curriculum. Recommendations are meant to guide graduate students and faculty members in their advising and mentoring relationships in pursuit of a rigorous, inclusive, and vibrant program. The MPM advocates a holistic approach to academic advising that serves the special needs of various student populations. This may require referring students to the university health and counseling services for professional help and guidance.

The current document pertains primarily to the official role and function of faculty mentors and advisors; it does not cover personal mentoring.  While some faculty mentors and advisors will also be personal mentors, not all advisors are able to take on that role. Therefore, graduate students are encouraged to reach out to other members of the faculty who, based on an affinity of temperament or outlook, complement or supplement their official mentors and advisors for additional counsel on life choices and challenges. Past graduate students have found that adapting to both the department and their academic discipline is more easily done in conversation with many different faculty members. Students are encouraged to meet early and often with faculty to build relationships and discuss academic plans. Moreover, as a result of interpersonal dynamics, not all mentee-mentor or advisee-advisor relationships will be uniformly congenial. In cases where these dynamics are detrimental to academic progress and well-being students may request to change mentors and advisors. In such cases it is helpful for the student to have an idea of which faculty member may be a better fit as a mentor or advisor.

Amid the complex ecology of mentoring and advising, the mentoring plan identifies the main roles and responsibilities for faculty and students in a mentoring relationship as they relate to the administrative structure of the department and the different phases of the graduate program. The MPM seeks to establish equitable expectations of faculty mentors and advisors as well as mentees and advisess for communication and feedback. These expectations will be reviewed regularly by the Graduate Studies Committee.

Roles and Responsibilities

The Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) is the chair of the Graduate Studies Committee (GSC) and the primary contact for academic matters pertaining to the curriculum, such as course requirements, exams, teaching requirements, dissertation defenses, grades and incompletes, satisfactory progress, annual reviews, etc.  The DGS also serves as a liaison with the Dean of Students of the Humanities Division (DOS) for such matters as funding, leave of absence, external and internal fellowship applications, and changes pertaining to life events.  The DGS is assisted in these tasks by the Student Affairs Administrator (SAA).  The DGS schedules meetings with students in years 1 and 2 at the beginning of the academic year, and holds general office hours for others. Meetings at the beginning of Winter and Spring quarter are recommended, but not mandatory. Throughout the year, the DGS tracks students’ academic progress in the program with input from faculty mentors and advisors.

The Director of Professional Development (DPD) is responsible for matters pertaining to career development and professionalization, including applying for conferences, conference presentations, teaching supervision, course proposals, fellowship applications, and job applications, and—where appropriate—referring students to the resources provided by UChicago Grad. The DPD assigns individual faculty to mentor graduate student lecturers and collects reports on their teaching for the Spring Review. The DPD also runs the Graduate Teaching Forum in Music (GTFM) which meets twice a quarter. The DPD works and coordinates with faculty mentors and advisors on all of these tasks. 

The Faculty Mentor is assigned to first-year students by the DGS in consultation with the faculty and input from students. The Faculty Mentor stays with the student until the student has chosen a dissertation advisor, typically while attending the Dissertation Proposal Seminar during the year after taking the Comprehensive Exams. Complementing the work of the DGS and DPD, the Faculty Mentor meets with the student once a quarter to advise holistically about all matters pertaining to course work, exams, academic progress, and professional development, referring students to other university resources (UChicago Grad, the Dean of Students, counseling services, etc.) as appropriate.  A list of topics and action items to be discussed during these meetings is appended below.  The Faculty Mentor will help mentees use strategies for self-advocacy and encourage them to participate in workshops, pedagogical and professional training, etc. to build out their resume. The Faculty Mentor will also give advice on applications for research proposals, conference abstracts, and conference presentations, write letters of recommendation, and steer students towards workshops and additional training that develops their resume in non-academic ways. The Faculty Mentor will refer students to colleagues in other subfields for these tasks, as appropriate. The Faculty Mentor participates in the Annual Spring Review Meeting until the student has selected a dissertation advisor.  Faculty Mentor and student establish a collaborative record of the main points discussed in their quarterly meetings. Using a template provided by the SAA, they will keep that record for reference in future meetings. 

The Dissertation Advisor is a tenure-track faculty member, generally chosen in the course of the Dissertation Proposal Seminar. The Dissertation Advisor will continue the mentoring tasks of the Faculty Mentor described above, meeting with the student at least once every quarter about progress on the dissertation and professional development. A student may request that two faculty members serve as co-advisors. If all parties should agree to do so, the student and co-advisors will meet to determine how specific tasks such as feedback on dissertation chapters are to be distributed. The Dissertation Advisor(s) will offer feedback on the advisee’s work, including research and grant/fellowship proposals, course proposals, conference abstracts and presentations, and dissertation chapters.  In collaboration and combination with the DPD and UChicago GRAD, the Dissertation Advisor will work with the student on applications for jobs and post-doctoral positions, including cover letters, writing samples, job talks, and teaching demonstrations, and will write letters of recommendation.  

The Members of the Dissertation Committee may vary according to field and topic. They will offer feedback on the dissertation proposal and dissertation itself as well as participate in the defense of the proposal and the completed dissertation. Members of the committee will also write letters of recommendation, offer feedback on research and grant/fellowship proposals, course proposals, conference abstracts and presentations, along with applications for jobs and post-doctoral positions. Full-time Lecturers at the University of Chicago may also be members of the committee. Dissertation committees sometimes include faculty from other institutions, who are experts in the relevant fields.  Outside faculty and lecturers need to be approved as members of a dissertation committee by the Department Chair. 

Peer Mentors are advanced students who are paired with students in the early stages of the program. The system of peer mentoring is organized by the Graduate Music Society (GMS) with the encouragement and support of the Department; participation is strictly voluntary. The program is designed to help early-stage students navigate the program, while in turn allowing advanced students to stay connected with their peers and to develop mentoring skills. Immediate and long-term benefits include strengthening the community and forming lasting professional connections. 

The graduate student ombudsperson is elected by the GMS and serves as a liaison for students who want to communicate anonymously with departmental leadership.  The ombudsperson also helps students who encounter difficulties with faculty, including mentors and advisors, and may be involved in resolving concerns, complaints, and grievances. 

Expectations

Students and faculty should interact with each other respectfully, acknowledging singular strengths, weaknesses, experiences and workloads that include, but are not limited to teaching, research, administrative work, and personal obligations. Faculty and students should strive to create and sustain a departmental culture that values and fosters diversity in all of its intellectual, racial, sexual, socio-economic, cultural, political, religious, and professional manifestations. 

No member of the departmental community should experience harassment, discrimination, or the consequences of bias. When or if such experiences arise, students may approach the student ombudsperson, the DGS, the Chair, or the Dean of Students.  Students who want to change mentors or advisors might want to consult with the DGS and Department Chair prior to making the decision. In more difficult cases, the student may start with a third party: the ombudsperson or the Dean of Students. Faculty may approach the Associate Dean in the Provost’s office, who works closely with deans, department chairs, directors, and campus administrators to address a broad range of sensitive academic and interpersonal matters with faculty and other academic appointees. 

All cases involving possible Title IX violations must, by law, be reported through Title IX procedures.

To fulfill an equitable minimum for mentoring and advising, mentors/advisors and mentees/advisees are asked to meet a basic set of expectations for communication and feedback. These expectations are based on best practices for maintaining and sustaining a productive relationship. A list of topics for discussion is appended to this document below.

Mentees and advisees need to stay in regular contact with their mentors and advisor(s). Students should be proactive in discussing academic progress and professional development with their mentor and advisor (see Section C. below for more detail).  Students are asked to  provide conference abstracts, research proposals, and application materials, or other materials that need input and review no later than two weeks ahead of a given deadline. For feedback on longer proposals and dissertation chapters, this timeframe extends to four weeks.  Students should respond to emails within two to three days and to emails flagged as urgent within 24 hours. If they are not able to respond at length within these time periods, they should provide a time frame for a full response. 

Mentors, advisors and dissertation committee members need to stay in regular contact with their mentees and advisees, proactively discussing academic progress and professional development (see Section C. below for more detail).  Mentors, advisors and dissertation committee members are asked to respond to emails from mentees/advisees within two to three days and to emails flagged as urgent within 24 hours. If they are not able to respond at length within these time periods, they should provide a time frame for a full response.  Depending on the task, the advisor(s) will offer feedback on the advisee’s work typically within a week to ten days for shorter research grants, fellowship proposals, course proposals, conference abstracts and conference presentations. For detailed feedback, such as  line-editing, on longer proposals and dissertation chapters, this timeframe extends to four weeks. Faculty members, including those without an official role as mentor or advisor but consulted because of their expertise in a particular area, should give students a date by which they will provide feedback.

Satisfactory Progress, Teaching, Professionalization

Academic progress is set out in the Graduate Curriculum, which details timelines for completing course work, language and musicianship requirements, comprehensive exams, the Minor Field paper (for students in composition), and the dissertation proposal defense.  The graduate program is divided into three phases (typically two-years each for Track 2 students): Phase 1 includes general coursework, most degree requirements, and comprehensive exams; Phase 2 includes the creation and defense of the dissertation proposal, archival research, and field work; Phase 3 includes writing the dissertation and PhD Paper, the defense of the dissertation and the PhD paper, and job applications (see the Graduate Curriculum for details, including the special requirements for the program in Composition). Students in the subdisciplines of history, theory, and ethnomusicology are expected to be ABD (“All But Dissertation”) by the end of winter quarter year 4, while students in the subdiscipline of composition are expected to be ABD by the end of spring quarter year 4. To reach ABD status students will have completed the degree requirements of curricular coursework, music practica, language requirements, comprehensive exams, and defended their dissertation proposal.

Throughout the program, quarterly reports will be created collaboratively between Faculty Mentor/Dissertation Advisor and the student, with input from the DGS and DPD.  During Spring Quarter, the whole faculty will review each student’s progress in the program. Prior to the Spring Quarter Review, pre-ABD students update their annual checklist of coursework and completed requirements.  ABD students answer a series of questions about dissertation work and schedule for completion.  Students are evaluated according to the metrics of “satisfactory progress” in the Graduate Curriculum as well as their performance in coursework and exams. Additional information about student’s successes and challenges are discussed by the Faculty Mentor/Dissertation Advisor, teachers, and others. The results of the review and any recommendations are communicated to the student in a meeting with the Faculty Mentor and one other faculty member; or with the Dissertation Advisor(s) and the dissertation committee.  

Remedies and Probation

Looking holistically at the student’s situation, the faculty determines remedial training on an individual basis overseen by the DGS, Faculty Mentor/Dissertation Advisor(s), and Chair.  Students are typically given a specific set of goals, and assistance to reach those goals is provided as needed and determined by faculty including for example additional course work (writing program, Undergraduate Courses); modification of timeline for requirements; targeted mentoring; extra coaching for practicums, additional resources for language study, etc. Concerns about progress in the program (e.g., incompletes, poor performance, missed milestones, delayed completion of dissertation chapters) should be communicated to the student in writing. If a student is placed on probation, any expectations for improvement (including relevant deadlines) will be clearly stated in writing, as will the consequences of not meeting the expectations.  In rare cases, decisions about withdrawal from the program are made after extensive deliberation by the entire faculty (in consultation with the Dean of Students), typically in response to failing several comprehensive exams and/or ongoing lack of progress in reaching milestones (even after remedial work), and no prospect for successful completion of the program.

Dissertation preparation, proposal, and writing.  The pre-dissertation workshops take place in the first two years; the dissertation proposal seminar is taken during the year after the comprehensive exams; and the dissertation chapter writing seminar is taken in years four and five. Participation in dissertation workshops and seminars is specified in the Graduate Curriculum and is part of the academic progress to be discussed in quarterly meetings with mentor and advisor.

Teaching mentoring is described above. Based on a student’s academic progress and professional needs, teaching assignments are made by the faculty in consultation with the Director of Undergraduate Studies each spring quarter for the following year. The DPD oversees the faculty supervision of graduate student teachers. While course assistants are mentored by the faculty instructors they serve, the DPD assigns dissertation advisor(s), committee members, and subfield-specific faculty to mentor student lecturers. Following the guidelines of the Graduate Teaching Program, teaching mentors create a collaborative report of teaching supervision. Student lecturers and course assistants are required to attend the Graduate Teaching Forum for Music and participate in workshops by the Chicago Center for Teaching (CCT).

Opportunities for professionalization include conference presentations, applications to internal and external fellowships for dissertation research and field work, publications, as well as applications to postdoctoral positions, visiting positions, and tenure-track positions. Mentees/advisees and mentors/advisors discuss these opportunities as appropriate for the mentee’s phase in the program, offer feedback on abstracts, funding applications, conference presentations, manuscripts, and job applications. The DPD will offer advice on and direct students to workshops about various aspects of professionalization, such as grant proposal writing, conference planning, workshop organization, networking, service and participation in governance, self-advocacy, and professional opportunities outside of academia.  In collaboration with and participation of advisors and field-specific faculty as well as support from UChicago Grad, the DPD reviews cover letters, CVs/resumes and organizes trial runs of conference presentations, mock interviews, and teaching demonstrations. The Faculty Mentor/Dissertation Advisor and DPD will encourage students to explore opportunities of non-academic careers through programs at UChicago GRAD, such as the internship matching.

Oversight and Accountability

The Department Chair, DGS, and DPD collaboratively review the mentoring plan and take action, as needed, to ensure compliance with the plan. The Chair works with the GMS ombudsperson, the DoS, and the Dean of the Humanities Division to address complaints and grievances. Please also consult the University Grievance Policy for Graduate Students.   

The Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) oversees the collection of progress reports and evaluations. The Graduate Studies Committee, chaired by the DGS, consists of faculty members who review and decide on petitions by individual students who seek exceptions to curricular requirements, and advise on matters of the graduate curriculum. If a student has been placed on probation, the DGS will monitor the fulfillment of expectations, in dialogue with the faculty mentor and/or dissertation adviser.

Appendix: Topics and Action Items for Mentoring/Advising Meetings

The below selection of topics and action items may serve as a starting point and guide for conversations between mentees/advisees and their mentors/advisors as they move together through the program. 

Phase 1 

• how to adjust to graduate/PhD study and to the quarter system
• how to approach other faculty and visiting scholars
• how to ask questions and offer comments in colloquia and workshops
• how to establish professional affiliations
• review coursework and requirements
• review choices of exams and discuss exam preparation
• review long-term professional goals and plans to achieve them
• discuss areas of knowledge/skills to focus on in years one and two
• begin conversation about possible minor field and dissertation topics
• explore applications for summer research and language study

Phase 2  

• how to choose and confirm a dissertation advisor
• how to establish a dissertation committee
• discuss teaching interests, pedagogy workshops, teaching applications
• attending and presenting in graduate student workshops 
• attending and presenting at conferences 
• establishing professional connections in area of specialization
• applications for outside funding and research fellowships
• participation in professional organizations

Phase 3

• review and discuss dissertation chapters
• establish timeline for completion of thesis and defense date
• explore additional teaching opportunities
• assemble a teaching portfolio
• ongoing professionalization 
• publication opportunities
• conference organization and workshop leadership
• application for dissertation completion fellowships
• preparation for job and postdoctoral applications

General Topics and Action Items for Phases 1-3

• assess general well-being and need for referral to outside resources, such as student health and wellness services
• establish meeting schedule and process for setting up additional meetings during the academic year and the summer
• set expectations and timeline for feedback
• review workload and work-life balance
• check academic progress, outstanding requirements, incompletes, dissertation chapters and create a schedule for completion
• review and develop strategies and forms of self-advocacy
• consider new research interests and intellectual growth 
• discuss summer plans