As a faculty mentor, you may think mainly of the benefits to the student of an undergraduate research or creative project. You may even worry about the work involved in mentoring a student, or the disappointment if the student fails to live up to expectations. But many benefits accrue to the faculty mentor, as many faculty members have attested. Here are just a few:

• Pleasure of passing on your knowledge and skill
• Reward of seeing a student’s growth under your guidance
• Opportunities for increasing number of grants that require use of undergraduates
• Excitement from learning from students and making joint discoveries (this does happen!)