<div dir="ltr"><div><div>Dear graduate students,</div><div><br></div><div>I hope everyone's Week 10 is off to a good start.</div><div><br></div><div>I am writing to remind each of you to <b>complete your <span class="gmail-il">Annual</span> <span class="gmail-il">Mentoring</span> and <span class="gmail-il">Evaluation</span> form via <a href="https://rgrad.ucr.edu/app/" target="_blank">R'Grad</a> <u>ASAP</u></b> so that your advisor has adequate time to complete and submit your <span class="gmail-il">annual</span> <span class="gmail-il">evaluation by Graduate Division's deadline</span>. To be clear, the June 30 deadline is for faculty to complete the AMEs, <u>not</u> your deadline to initiate the form via R'Grad, so please initiate the form ASAP.</div><div><br></div><div>See <a href="https://graduate.ucr.edu/regulations-and-procedures#annual-mentoring-and-evaluatio" target="_blank">https://graduate.ucr.edu/regulations-and-procedures#<span class="gmail-il">annual</span>-<span class="gmail-il">mentoring</span>-and-evaluatio</a> (also copied below) for more information.</div><div><br></div><div><p style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px 0px 1rem;padding:0px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(69,90,100);font-family:"Fira Sans Regular","Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Roboto,Arial,sans-serif"><span style="box-sizing:inherit;font-size:inherit">The Annual Mentoring and Evaluation (AME) is assists in establishing good communication between faculty and students, ensures the timely completion of degree objectives, and helps avoid problems resulting from misunderstandings about rules, procedures and academic expectations within graduate programs.</span></p><p style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px 0px 1rem;padding:0px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(69,90,100);font-family:"Fira Sans Regular","Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Roboto,Arial,sans-serif"><span style="box-sizing:inherit;font-size:inherit">These evaluations</span> are coordinated by the faculty Graduate Advisor in each program acting with the assistance of a the student's major professor and/or a graduate committee. <span style="box-sizing:inherit;font-size:inherit">The review includes a summary of the quality of the student's academic work for the year and academic objectives for the next period. </span>It is useful to include any issues an individual student is experiencing (i.e., research techniques or scholastic difficulties and the prognosis for overcoming them, warning if students are taking overly long in attaining their educational goals, problems created by outside occupational demands, etc.). Additionally, this would be an appropriate place to congratulate students on accomplishments.</p><p style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px 0px 1rem;padding:0px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(69,90,100);font-family:"Fira Sans Regular","Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Roboto,Arial,sans-serif">To assist with this process, the Graduate Division, in collaboration with the Graduate Council, has created the <strong style="box-sizing:inherit;font-weight:bold;line-height:inherit">Annual Mentoring and Evaluation</strong>. <a href="https://rgrad.ucr.edu/app/" style="box-sizing:inherit;background-color:transparent;line-height:inherit;color:rgb(180,0,31)">This form can be completed in R'Grad.</a> </p><p style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px 0px 1rem;padding:0px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(69,90,100);font-family:"Fira Sans Regular","Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Roboto,Arial,sans-serif"><u style="box-sizing:inherit"><strong style="box-sizing:inherit;font-weight:bold;line-height:inherit">Annual Mentoring and Evaluation FAQs</strong></u></p><p style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px 0px 1rem;padding:0px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(69,90,100);font-family:"Fira Sans Regular","Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Roboto,Arial,sans-serif"><strong style="box-sizing:inherit;font-weight:bold;line-height:inherit">1. Who can see the AME petition in R'Grad?</strong> </p><ul style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px 0px 1rem 1.25rem;padding:0px;list-style-position:outside;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(69,90,100);font-family:"Fira Sans Regular","Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Roboto,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;font-size:inherit">Only students can access and initiate the petition. Please reach out to Graduate Academic Affairs if you'd like to see the content before starting the process.</li></ul><p style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px 0px 1rem;padding:0px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(69,90,100);font-family:"Fira Sans Regular","Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Roboto,Arial,sans-serif"><strong style="box-sizing:inherit;font-weight:bold;line-height:inherit">2. What is the routing order for the AME? </strong></p><ul style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px 0px 1rem 1.25rem;padding:0px;list-style-position:outside;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(69,90,100);font-family:"Fira Sans Regular","Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Roboto,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;font-size:inherit">Step 1: Student initiates the <a href="https://rgrad.ucr.edu/app/" style="box-sizing:inherit;background-color:transparent;line-height:inherit;color:rgb(180,0,31)">Annual Mentoring and Evaluation (AME) in R'Grad</a>. <ul style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px 0px 1rem 1.25rem;padding:0px;list-style-position:outside;line-height:1.6"><li style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;font-size:inherit">During this step, the Primary and Additional Evaluator(s) are added, if applicable. If the student doesn't designate a Primary Evaluator(s), the faculty Graduate Advisor automatically fills that role. </li></ul></li><li style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;font-size:inherit">Step 2: Primary Evaluator(s) complete the Assessment of Skills and review the student's goals.</li><li style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;font-size:inherit">Step 3: Additional Evaluator(s) give feedback, if applicable. </li><li style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;font-size:inherit">Step 4: The AME returns to the student queue for their review and verification. </li><li style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;font-size:inherit">Step 5: Graduate Staff review.</li><li style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;font-size:inherit">Step 6: Graduate Advisor review for the final program approval.</li><li style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;font-size:inherit">Step 7: Graduate Academic Affairs review only if the overall assessment from the Primary Evaluator(s) is "Needs Improvement." </li></ul><p style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px 0px 1rem;padding:0px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(69,90,100);font-family:"Fira Sans Regular","Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Roboto,Arial,sans-serif"><strong style="box-sizing:inherit;font-weight:bold;line-height:inherit">3. Does my program have to use the AME to evaluate students?</strong> </p><ul style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px 0px 1rem 1.25rem;padding:0px;list-style-position:outside;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(69,90,100);font-family:"Fira Sans Regular","Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Roboto,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;font-size:inherit">The only requirements at this time are that a) programs submit the AME for each student via R’Grad, either completing the information requested there or uploading an alternative evaluation, and b) each student’s overall performance is evaluated as Exceeds Expectations, Meets Expectations, or Needs Improvement by either the Primary Evaluator(s) or faculty Graduate Advisor.</li><li style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;font-size:inherit">If your program wishes to use a different method of evaluation, each student should still generate their AME in R’Grad and route it to the appropriate faculty member, who can upload a separate evaluation and mark the student’s progress as Exceeds Expectations, Meets Expectations, or Needs Improvement.</li></ul><p style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px 0px 1rem;padding:0px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(69,90,100);font-family:"Fira Sans Regular","Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Roboto,Arial,sans-serif"><strong style="box-sizing:inherit;font-weight:bold;line-height:inherit">4. When are evaluations due?</strong> </p><ul style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px 0px 1rem 1.25rem;padding:0px;list-style-position:outside;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(69,90,100);font-family:"Fira Sans Regular","Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Roboto,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;font-size:inherit">The evaluations are due to Grad Division by <strong style="box-sizing:inherit;font-weight:bold;line-height:inherit"><em style="box-sizing:inherit;line-height:inherit">June 30, 2026</em></strong>. You’re welcome to set an earlier internal deadline for your program.</li></ul><p style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px 0px 1rem;padding:0px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(69,90,100);font-family:"Fira Sans Regular","Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Roboto,Arial,sans-serif"><strong style="box-sizing:inherit;font-weight:bold;line-height:inherit">5. Why does the AME ask about responsible conduct of research (RCR) training? </strong></p><ul style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px 0px 1rem 1.25rem;padding:0px;list-style-position:outside;line-height:1.6;color:rgb(69,90,100);font-family:"Fira Sans Regular","Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Roboto,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px"><li style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;font-size:inherit">If the student completed CITI RCR training, that will be automatically reflected on the form. </li><li style="box-sizing:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;font-size:inherit">Grad Division encourages students and faculty to have discussions about RCR as part of their mentoring interactions, and we are also eager to learn how often those conversations are happening. We also encourage formal training when appropriate or required (e.g., by a particular form of funding). If the student has not had any training in a particular year, they can leave that portion of the form blank.</li></ul></div><div>Thanks, everyone.<br><br>MB<br></div></div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><font color="#000000"><span style="font-size:12.8px">----</span></font></div><div><font color="#000000"><span style="font-size:12.8px">Marissa Brookes</span><br></font></div><font color="#000000">Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies,</font></div><div dir="ltr"><font color="#000000">Department of Political Science</font></div><div><font color="#000000">Faculty Director, Inland Empire Labor and Community Center</font></div><div dir="ltr"><font color="#000000">University of California, Riverside</font></div><div dir="ltr"><font color="#000000">Watkins 2223<br>(951) 827-5510</font></div></div></div></div></div>