Program Description

WISP is composed of four components:

Graduate Mentoring Program

Residential Program

Tutoring Program

Undergraduate Mentoring Program

These four components work together to form a continuous environment that fosters success for students in the College of Science at Purdue University from freshman year through Ph.D.

Graduate Mentoring Program:

The Graduate Mentoring Program is a series of dinner meetings that feature a speaker in a relevant field, allows busy, dedicated scientists to share their experiences with one another at a convenient time. The graduate students, along with several faculty members and post-doctoral students, meet and interact at a local restaurant. These meetings are invaluable in that they provide contact with role models, who are successful women in science, to the students in science. In addition, these meetings provide an opportunity to increase informal networking between faculty members and graduate students.

Residential Program for freshmen:

The Residential Program for freshmen allows students with the same academic interest to live together in Earhart Residence Hall as a group and form a network for studying, support and friendship.

Tutoring is conveniently located in same residence hall where the first-year students reside. Upper-class undergraduate honor students are trained and supervised to provide tutoring to the first-year students and thus provide academic support to those who may need it.

Undergraduate Mentoring Program:

The Undergraduate Mentoring Program is a complement of the Residential Program. Upper-class undergraduates who have displayed leadership and a passion in their field of study are invited to be mentors to the first-year students participating in the Residential Program. To provide an environment in which the mentor/mentee relationships can grow and flourish, and to expose the students to role models, WISP provides monthly dinner and social programs where speakers relate their experiences as women in Science. Informal communication is encouraged between the monthly meetings to strengthen the mentor/mentee relationship.

Both the Undergraduate and the Graduate Mentoring Programs are facilitated by Student Leadership Teams. The Leadership Teams are composed of supervised, paid students who plan the monthly meetings and aid in the daily operational activities critical to the success of the programs. The Leadership Teams enable the student-leaders to shape the programs to benefit the WISP participants, while gaining valuable skills for themselves as future leaders.

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