Community at UC Berkeley comes in many forms and mentorship can be a valuable piece of your undergraduate experience. Mentorship allows you access to someone with more experience to go to for guidance or support. You might find mentors in L&S faculty, staff, graduate students, older students, and in many other places.
These relationships may start in informal ways, but there are some avenues the university can support you making these connections.
Best starting place for mentorship
The best starting place for you will depend on what kind of mentoring relationship you are hoping to find, but here is a program specifically designed to support you finding mentorship on campus:
- Berkeley Connect: Berkeley Connect is a one-unit opportunity to be connected with a PhD student who will be your personal mentor for the semester. Your mentor will give you the individual attention that can be hard to find at Berkeley, and coach you on how to build productive relationships with your professors. This program offers support for transfer students and for students pursuing particular majors, but know that you can sign up for Berkeley Connect even if you are not pursuing one of the listed majors.
Other resources
- Centers for Educational Justice & Community Engagement(link is external):
- Centers for Educational Justice & Community Engagement: CEJCE is a group of offices and centers that advocate for diverse communities on campus and offer opportunities to find mentorship among people who share aspects of your identity. Includes African American Student Development, Asian Pacific American Student Development, Chicanx Latinx Student Development, Gender Equity Resource Center, Multicultural Community Center, Native American Student Development.
- Centers for Educational Equity and Excellence(link is external): Includes resources like EOP, Transfer Student Center, Undocumented Students Program, Re-Entry Program, Student Parents, and more