What is the Music Mentoring Program?
The Department of Music’s Mentoring Program matches undergraduate music students with trained graduate student mentors on a by-request basis.
This program creates spaces for undergraduate and graduate students to explore questions and concerns related to their academic experience, encouraging intellectual, professional, and social support.
Open to any undergraduate student affiliated with the Department of Music (ex. participating in a departmental or student-run ensemble, taking a MUS class, majoring or pursuing a minor/certificate in music, etc.), this program seeks to be accessible to any student who would benefit from a mentoring relationship. Come one, come all!
*This program is generously supported by a Partnership Grant with the TigerWell Initiative
1) Support mentors and mentees in exploring their passions and interest through increased transparency regarding departmental and campus-wide resources for wellbeing and professional development.
2) Foster increased departmental community by providing space for historically separate populations of graduate and undergraduate students to connect and learn from one another outside of the classroom;
3) Strengthen the development of mentoring across campus by: A) providing outreach and support to connect current and future mentoring initiatives; B) collaborating and sharing resources and trainings; and C) working toward a centralization of mentoring efforts across Princeton University to create more efficient, sustainable, and permanent mentoring network and infrastructure.
Who can sign up?
Any undergraduate student affiliated with the Music Department (in any way!) is welcome to sign up for this program! This includes music concentrators and those in the minor and certificate programs, as well as anyone taking studio lessons, playing in a student- or faculty-led ensemble, or currently/formerly enrolled in any MUS or MPP designated course.
Why should I participate?
Benefits for mentees will be individualized and tailored to the student’s particular needs and interest, but will always include the opportunity to connect with peers and grad mentors in a safe space for exploring personal, academic, and career development and growth.
Possible topics of discussions include (but not limited to) :
- Academic questions
- Majoring in music
- Performance? Musicology? Composition? What about music education? Business? Advertisement? Production? Therapy? Etc.?
- Setting up goals / making concrete steps to actually achieve them
- Pursuing graduate music studies
- What does graduate music studies entail?
- What does Musicology/Composition/Music Theory/Music Cognition look like at the graduate level?
- How do I know it’s a good fit for me?
- How would I find programs I’m interested in or start applying?
- Thinking through how to translate your musical and/or scholarly passions into potential post-graduation career paths
You can also request a match if you don’t have any particular question, you’re just interested in meeting some of the Music Department graduate students and hearing who they are and what they’re up to!
How do I request a mentor?
You can fill out a form to request being matched with a mentor by scrolling down to the bottom of the page and using the “Request a Mentor” button.
You can peruse the profiles of each of our participating mentors by clicking on the “View our Mentors” button (also located at the bottom of this page).
When you request a mentor, you can either request to be matched with a particular person (which we will do our best to honor, depending on the availability of that mentor for additional matches) OR you can tell us about your questions and interests and we will pair you with the mentor we believe is the best fit.
Who can become a mentor?
All Music Department graduate students in the Musicology and Composition programs are welcome to join the mentor cohort. All mentors receive formal mentoring training, ongoing mentoring support, and an institutionally recognized means of gaining teaching and mentoring experience.
How do I sign up?
As of the 2023-2024 academic year, this is a paid position (you do, however, have the option to participate on a volunteer basis if you prefer). Mentors must complete a brief application that will be open at the beginning of each semester, after which you will be “hired” and able to log your hours. For information on how to submit your application, please email .
What if I don’t have much mentoring experience?
No worries! We will provide you with all the training and information you’ll need to get started, and we’re committed to providing ongoing support for mentors and mentees throughout the year.
- Mandatory mentor training will take place at the beginning of each semester for all new mentors and will be open to returning mentors. This training will highlight best practices in active listening and mentoring, confidentiality and Title IX requirements, and information regarding departmental resources and support.
- We will also host mid-semester mentoring circles in which mentors will meet to discuss trends, issues, and highlights from ongoing matches. These mentoring circles are entirely optional, and designed to give mentors space to share their mentoring experiences and strategies with one another over snacks such as bagels and coffee.
Just like last year, you can request either a one-time or recurring meeting with a particular mentor. You can specify your preference on the Mentor request form. Here’s what you can expect from these one-on-one pairings:
- Single-occurrence Coffee Chats
- Meet with a Mentor for a single meet-up – great for short, quick questions or informational interviews
- You can request Coffee Chats with several different Mentors if you’re interested in hearing about multiple perspectives!
- Recurring Mentorship Meetings
- For the duration of one semester or one academic year, mentees can request an ongoing mentorship pairing at a recurring interval (once per month, twice per month, etc.)
- These can be scheduled flexibly–there’s no requirement for how often you meet or how you communicate with your mentor, so it’s important to clearly establish your expectations and desires at your first meeting so that you can both plan accordingly!
- New this year, we will be piloting some mentorship pods! We envision pods as a way to build community between mentors and mentees with shared interests, and will be structured as follows:
- Recurring mentee-mentor meetings with 3-5 undergraduate mentees and 1-2 graduate mentors, centered around a common theme or topic (composition, applying to graduate school in music, exploring post-graduation opportunities for music majors/certificates, etc. – suggest a topic or focus of your own!)
- These can be more formal (like a music theory reading group that meets monthly to discuss an interesting music theory topic or article) or more casual (like group dinners at the dining hall where mentors and mentees can interact informally and discuss things like grad school, department policies, ensemble dynamics, etc.).
- If you are interested in joining a Fall 2023 mentorship pod, reach out directly to to indicate your interest.
