Advocacy Network

For Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars 

The Advocacy Network for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars is a team of supportive Cockrell School of Engineering faculty members across various departments who you can work one on one with to receive assistance and advice that you may not feel comfortable getting from your advisor(s) or within your own department.

An advisor, a mentor, and an advocate are three different things – you might need all three at some point in time during your program, and that’s fine! An advisor is there to help you understand the program and guide you through it, whether coursework, research, or both. A mentor is someone who has come before you and can speak from their experience to offer strategies and answer questions more specific to your goals. The faculty mentioned above are advocates. An advocate is someone with both expertise and social capital that they are willing and able to leverage to help you address a problem.

Accessing this resource is easy – visit the webpage and fill out the private form to be connected to one or more of the members of the network of your choosing.