34th Annual UMBC McNair & Undergraduate Research National Conference: Full Schedule

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2:30pm EDT

Workshop: The HCM Compass: Reimagining Mentorship, Charting Your Graduate Pathway

Thursday September 17, 2026 2:30pm - 3:30pm EDT

Choosing a graduate program is often reduced to rankings, funding packages, and program prestige, metrics that say little about whether a mentor or department will actually see, challenge, and sustain a scholar. This workshop introduces Holistic Critical Mentoring (HCM) as a dual-purpose tool: a practice framework for faculty seeking to deepen their mentoring relationships, and a decision-making compass for scholars evaluating graduate pathways. Participants will explore HCM's three pillars, Holistic Presence, Critical Curiosity, and Mentoring Reciprocity, and its five Core Commitments, then apply them directly. Faculty will identify concrete strategies for embedding HCM into everyday mentoring practice. Scholars will build a personal "HCM Compass" checklist they can use to interrogate prospective mentors, labs, and programs before committing to one. The session closes with faculty-scholar pairs exchanging insights across roles, reinforcing that HCM is strongest when practiced as a shared language rather than a one-directional obligation.

Speakers

Michael Hunt

Director, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Rev. Michael A. Hunt, an advocate, educator, and administrator from Baltimore, is committed to promoting inclusive practices within institutions. He earned a bachelor's degree in Applied Mathematics from UMBC and a Master of Divinity from Emory University. Michael's career includes... Read More →

Thursday September 17, 2026 2:30pm - 3:30pm EDT
Hanover A Mezzanine Level

34th Annual UMBC McNair & Undergraduate Research National Conference

2:30pm EDT

Michael Hunt

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