Why cultivate a “board” instead of one mentor?
A single mentor can offer valuable insight, but no one person has all the answers. Building an advisory board of several trusted faculty, staff, and professionals can provide you with a wider range of perspectives, expertise, and experiences. Different advisors can support different aspects of growth—whether that’s academic guidance, career exploration, or personal development—and together they form a team that helps students see opportunities and challenges from multiple angles.
By cultivating this network, you can strengthen your ability to make informed decisions, navigate challenges and setbacks, and develop a well-rounded sense of direction during your time at Duke and beyond.
Who do you want on your team of advisors?
Ideally, you want your team to have a least one person who:
| What they do | Why it matters | Who they might be |
| Studies topics related to what you want to study and/or the methods you are interested in using. | It is be helpful to have mentorship from someone familiar with your area of interest and can provide thoughtful input on your ideas, direct you to key resources and ideas, or is familiar with the formulas, code, or lab techniques so that they can trouble-shoot problems that you run into. |
|
| Helps you strategize and make concrete plans. | Mentors can help you make plans related to your course of study and reveal possible career paths and action steps. They will know about opportunities outside of class that can give you valuable experiences and add to the story of your time as an undergraduate. |
Other staff who can also support you include:
|
| Has time to listen to you and listens supportively. | College is hard. At times, college is really, really, really hard. Having someone who can listen supportively is invaluable. |
Other staff who can also support you include:
|
| Will advocate for you. | Sometimes, you will need an adult to step up and go to bat for you. |
Other staff who can also support you include:
|
